Why Do Tigers Have Stripes?

by Mike Unwin, Helen Edom, Robert Morton (Illustrator)

Explains how skin and fur colors and patterns help animals escape predators, hunt prey, and find a mate.

Genres: Science, Pre K, Nonfiction, Animals, Childrens, Picture Books, Nature

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Mike Unwin is a celebrated wildlife and travel writer known for his books and journalism, and also a photographer, illustrator, and popular speaker.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

We couldn't read this all in one sitting because there is a lot of information on each page. But taking it three pages at a time worked well and I even learned a lot! Great book for them to grow into.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very informative book on how animals' coloring protects them in the wild for little children. I read it a few pages at a time to make sure that I didn't exhaust their attention spans.

[Laura (Book Scrounger) · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 4-year-old and I both enjoyed learning from this informative book. There were lots of good-quality illustrations showing how animals' physical appearances help them survive. We learned about stripes and spots and other animal colorations and how they help animals blend in to their surroundings -- on land, in the trees, or in the water. We learn why some animals have bright colors while others are duller in color. We learned about how some bugs have patterns that resemble eyes to distract or scare birds, about animals that change color depending on what is surrounding them, and about how some animals can use their coloration to hide from predators.

The text is mostly spread out over the page in little blurbs and each page covers lots of specific information, so we found it best to read two or three double pages of this at a time, rather than trying to read it all in one sitting. This book would certainly work well for older children too.

[Sticky Note Book Recs Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this to my littlest as a science lesson, he loved it! Great pictures and easy explanations of animals' coloring. Good for little ears to be read aloud, great for older kids to read on their own too!

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another favorite of the boys. This is a fun book to be read and discussed. It teaches how animals uses, colors, patterns, and shadows for protection, hunting, and attracting the opposite sex.

[Shakila Lightfoot · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a great informational piece. It helps students think about other thing they "wonder" about that ma not be stated.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Usborne introductory science book on animal colors and camouflage.

[Megan]

Science