Children's Books discussion

Taking a page from the Fiction Club, in April we will discuss non-fiction books about animals. Animals will encompass mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, fish, insects, etc. These can be informative books about the lives and life cycles of an animal, or memoirs of someone's life with an animal (including short story memoirs). Since libraries are closed in many communities, this will be a chance to share with the group books you have already read, and perhaps reviewed, in the past. Or, if you have any of these types of books in your home, you can share about those. If necessary, this theme will be extended into May.

Fun!

Just as an example, I plan to read a book I have at home:
Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest by Reader's Digest Association. While these stories may not have specifically been written for children, certainly the shorter stories could be read to young children (especially those who love animals), or read by older children.

I think that I read that one years ago.

Do you think James Herriot's books would count? I enjoyed those when I was a young teen.

I received an unsolicitated ARC of Good Boy: My Life in Seven Dogs so I'll read that and let you all know if it fits.

I'll also find more on openlibrary and libby/overdrive, but I don't know what yet.

James Herriot--absolutely! A few of his stories have actually been made into picture books, so some of his stories can be read to children.

I was just going to say James Herriot! There are children's editions of his books. I remember Moses the Kitten. His stories blur the lines between fact and fiction though.

Really? I thought most of them were memoir.

This is a great Initiative! I appreciate it. One book that comes to mind is one I recently read called Ratman and Robin: The Attack of Catman and the Meows.

Moses the Kitten is good too.

Ashley wrote: "This is a great Initiative! I appreciate it. One book that comes to mind is one I recently read called Ratman and Robin: The Attack of Catman and the Meows.

[book:Moses the Kitten..."

Thank you for your interest in this month's club discussions. Moses the Kitten would fit. The other suggestion is not exactly non-fiction, which is this month's discussion. However, there is another folder in this group: "Themes, Topics, and Categories," and one of the topics in that folder is "Graphic Novels," which would be a perfect place to share your thoughts on Ratman and Robin.
In this month's discussion, we appreciate your thoughts about Moses the Kitten, and any other non-fiction animal books that you have read in the past.

Beverly wrote: "Really? I thought most of them were memoir."

Sort of but he did change his name, the names of his partner and wife and the town. Some of the incidents that occurred MAY not have happened to him specifically or at the time they take place in the books. The library classifies his books as non-fiction or biography.

QNPoohBear wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Really? I thought most of them were memoir."

Sort of but he did change his name, the names of his partner and wife and the town. Some of the incidents that occurred MAY not have ha..."

I had not known any of that, because I had never researched him, just read his stories. I just looked on Wikipedia, an absolutely infallible source ;), to see what his real name was, and etc. Very interesting.

Beverly wrote: "QNPoohBear wrote: "Beverly wrote: "Really? I thought most of them were memoir."

Sort of but he did change his name, the names of his partner and wife and the town. Some of the incidents that occur..."

His son says some of that in James Herriot's Favorite Dog Stories and then I looked at the World of James Herriot museum site https://worldofjamesherriot.com/about...

Yay it's April! I'm starting off with one from openlibrary.org: Octopus. It's from 1978 but doesn't seem dated at all... the adult books that I've read on the subject, for example The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, don't say anything different. The illustrations are clear enough to enjoy on a tablet, though there is some awkwardness in the way the spreads were scanned for OL.

This is a lovely book for children at the age when they first start doing research papers. It's told as a 'biography,' and has no notes except for a brief thanks to experts, but it certainly would work as a supplementary source. And it works as pleasure and family reading, with lovely illustrations. There is some predator/prey action, and some circle-of-life reality, but nothing more than any child needs to learn, and since it takes place underwater, the gore isn't visible. I recommend it.

Oops, it's not April. My mind played an April Fool's joke on me I guess. Oh well. :)

No problem. It's going to take me a while to read my book.

Here is a list of non fiction animal books for children I have read since joining Goodreads in 2009 (it is not all of them but a decent list). Not going to be posting reviews, but you can easily scroll down to read them.

Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals
Pink Is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals
Cute as an Axolotl: Discovering the World's Most Adorable Animals
What Makes a Monster?: Discovering the World's Scariest Creatures
Rodent Rascals
Count Them While You Can . . .: A Book of Endangered Animals
The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk
Hey Diddle Diddle: A Food Chain Tale
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot
The Search for Olinguito: Discovering a New Species
Crow Smarts: Inside the Brain of the World's Brightest Bird
If Sharks Disappeared
Camp Panda: Helping Cubs Return to the Wild
Moto and Me: My Year as a Wildcat's Foster Mom
Animals Marco Polo Saw: An Adventure on the Silk Road
Animals Charles Darwin Saw: An Around the World Adventure
Time to Sleep
Actual Size
Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships
Animals by the Numbers: A Book of Infographics
Trickiest!: 19 Sneaky Animals
Stinkiest!: 20 Smelly Animals
Speediest!: 19 Very Fast Animals
Deadliest!: 20 Dangerous Animals

And these are the books (on my Kindle) I am planning on reading this month for the theme. And yes, I might also reread the entire James Herriot collection.

Animals Robert Scott Saw: An Adventure in Antartica
Animals Christopher Columbus Saw: An Adventure in the New World
Giant Squid
Build, Beaver, Build!: Life at the Longest Beaver Dam
Can an Aardvark Bark?
What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?
Prehistoric Actual Size
The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk
A Little Book of Sloth
Living Color
Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas
Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember

My sister was less an animal person growing up than I was but her favorites was Koko's Kitten. We were devastated to learn Koko died recently at the age of 46.

I would recommend
Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story or Dewey the Library Cat: A True Story
I read the adult version and it's fine for a family read but I'm sure the children's versions are good too.

I'm not much of a non-fiction reader.

I have read a few and will share some of my favorites and favorites of the children.

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands Awrd winning book that is illustrated.
Sniffer Tinni: A True Tale of Amazing Animal Friendship loved this one, beautiful photographs, true story.
Christian the Lion: My Story of How I Learned to Be Wild The boys I nannied for loved this book, another true story and there is an adult version.
Wild Fox: A True Story
Shimmer & Splash: The Sparkling World of Sea Life

As I mentioned I nanny so most of the others, I have read are geared towards pre-k, I just sometimes read school age books if the child shows interest in a certain subject/animal.

Shannon, Kathryn would love to read a post about the best picture-books and pre-K books in this month's picture-book club!

And I will look into the titles you mention here, since they've been vetted by real kids as well as their adult!

Cheryl wrote: "Shannon, Kathryn would love to read a post about the best picture-books and pre-K books in this month's picture-book club!

And I will look into the titles you mention here, since they've been vett..."

Thanks will do!

Cheryl wrote: "Shannon, Kathryn would love to read a post about the best picture-books and pre-K books in this month's picture-book club!.."

Yes! Feel welcome to post here, too, if you like:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

I think all of the non-fiction books we have read about animals are picture books since my children are still in that age group. I'll see if I can remember a few that haven't already been listed here and post back later. I really wish we'd been able to get some more books from the library before they closed but I'm looking forward to having a big list to check out when it (eventually!) re-opens.

One of our very favorites in recent memory is Animals Hibernating: How Animals Survive Extreme Conditions. Those of you in the PB Club will already have read this for our Hibernation theme but it might be new to some of the readers here in the Misc. Club. Highly recommend and both my 4 and 7 year old loved it.

Saving the Tasmanian Devil: How Science Is Helping the World’s Largest Marsupial Carnivore Survive by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent
I read this book a couple of months ago. It was an excellent description of what scientists and veterinarians are doing to diagnose and cure a disease that has been wreaking havoc among these interesting animals (much like Covid 19 is wreaking havoc among humans). The text was interesting and informative and the accompanying photographs were gorgeous.

Well I certainly have not enjoyed the Kindle version of Steve Jenkins’ Prehistoric Actual Size, the same as I have not enjoyed Actual Size either and really do think that picture book about actual sizes just do not work very well as e-books.

I did find Steve Jenkins’ Living Color both educational and visually stunning and the only reason why my ranking is four and not five stars is that the included bibliography in my opinion should be a bit more prominent as I almost missed it.

And with Jenkins’ Steve Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember, my one annoyance has been that I do think Jenkins makes too much of a deal with regard to the seventeen animal species he has chosen being dangerous.

Manybooks wrote: "Well I certainly have not enjoyed the Kindle version of Steve Jenkins’ Prehistoric Actual Size, the same as I have not enjoyed Actual Size either and really do think tha..."

I agree that the "Actual Size" books should probably be looked at in their physical formats.

I will add the book about the Tasmanian Devil to my list, thank you.
It's a 'Scientists in the Field' book which has produced many related books that I've loved lately. I also noticed that Sy Montgomery wrote a lot of them, and since I also love her work for adults, I have added a bunch more of this 'series' to my lists.

I have Sy Montgomery’s The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk on my to read list for this month and I can totally recommend her Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot.

I gave up Good Boy (see above) pretty quickly. Not about the dogs much, and def. not for children. I hope I can make time for something else that fits this theme.

Cheryl wrote: "I gave up Good Boy (see above) pretty quickly. Not about the dogs much, and def. not for children. I hope I can make time for something else that fits this theme."

Kind of strange that you received this unsolicited (I read your review and am shaking my head).

Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest
This anthology includes 72 stories, most of them short, but also a few book condensations. The stories are either heartwarming, humorous/hilarious/, or heart wrenching, or a combination of the three. Most of these stories could be read to younger children, but a parent should read a story first, to make sure that it is suitable for their child. Many of the stories include the death of the animal, so a parent will want to consider whether their child can handle that part of the story. The majority of stories are about mammals, either domestic or wild, and there are stories about birds and reptiles. There are even a couple of stories about sea creatures--one about a grouper and one about an octopus.
The book condensations include Rascal by Sterling North, My Friends the Huskies by Robert Dovers, First Lady of the Seeing Eye by Morris Frank, Elephant Bill by J.H. Williams, The Seal Summer by Nina Warner Hooke, Blind Jack by Stephanie Roden Ryder, Living Free by Joy Adamson, One Man and His Dog by Anthony Richardson, Ring of Bright Water by Gavin Maxwell, and The Dog Who Wouldn't Be by Farley Mowat.
An endlessly fascinating and worthwhile anthology.

Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest is the anthology you're reporting on, right, Beverly? It is avl. on open library, yay!

Cheryl wrote: "Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest is the anthology you're reporting on, right, Beverly? It is avl. on open library, yay!"

That sounds good.

Does anyone have any recs for SCARY animals - like "killer bees that can kill cows! They're in the desert! There are killer bees that make really good sweet honey in the mountains where no one can go!" (conversation with niece and nephew last night). They get too much screen time but if we can convert screen time into READING screen time, that would be better than noisy video screen time. (My sister "needed a break" from her hooligans and dumped them on us for two nights. I can't deal with so much noise and drama!)

QNPoohBear wrote: "Cheryl wrote: "Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest is the anthology you're reporting on, right, Beverly? It is avl. on open library, yay!"

That s..."

I liked but did not love for a few specific and personal reasons What Makes a Monster?: Discovering the World's Scariest Creatures

as well as by the same author

Cute as an Axolotl: Discovering the World's Most Adorable Animals and Pink Is for Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals

Also generally like Unusual Creatures: A Mostly Accurate Account of Some of Earth's Strangest Animals, and your niece and nephew might enjoy the humour more than I did.

Cheryl wrote: "Animals You Will Never Forget: 72 True Stories from the Reader's Digest is the anthology you're reporting on, right, Beverly? It is avl. on open library, yay!"

Yes, that's right. Sorry about the oversight.

QNPoohBear wrote: "Does anyone have any recs for SCARY animals?"

Predator! by Bruce Brooks
Giant Squid: Searching for a Sea Monster by Mary M. Cerullo
The Truth About Great White Sharks by Mary M. Cerullo
What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You? by Steve Jenkins
Deadliest!: 20 Dangerous Animals by Steve Jenkins
Apex Predators: The World's Deadliest Hunters, Past and Present by Steve Jenkins
The Man-Eating Tigers of Sundarbans by Sy Montgomery
and any other books about sharks, especially tiger sharks; books about tigers, lions, bears, and other apex predators
also, books about venomous snakes and spiders

Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas

Although I have definitely found Brian Floca's accompanying artwork aesthetically pleasant and as such a visually delightful accompaniment to Lynne Cox's presented narrative, it is precisely because the latter, because Cox's text (at least to and for me) raises far too many questions that are never really answered and are often never even approached and considered that I have not really managed to enjoy Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea all that much from a personal reading pleasure point of departure.

For albeit I do realise that Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea is based on a true story, from a science and ecology point of view, I just do have major issues with author Lynne Cox rather categorically claiming that Elizabeth the elephant seal choosing to live in Christchurch New Zealand's Avon river instead of in the ocean, that this is where she, where Elizabeth, somehow belongs, since no indeed, elephant seals are not usually supposed to reside in urban areas (and in sweet bodies of water). And while Elizabeth's story (that she seemingly and of her own volition decided to make Christchurch New Zealand her home and that this was finally accepted by the authorities after multiple attempts to relocate Elizabeth back into the ocean failed, with her always returning) sure is interesting enough and engagingly recounted, considering that Elizabeth also often caused considerably traffic chaos by sunning herself on Christchurch's streets, I for one cannot simply and without question accept that Elizabeth the elephant seal seemingly choosing to live in an urban environment and in an urban river is as positive and as acceptable a scenario as Lynne Cox wants her readers to believe (a quirky and an intriguing scenario, to be sure, but not really in my opinion a truly in any manner totally and without question positive one, as basically, with Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea, Lynne Cox is to and for me kind of feting and cheering the concept of a non endemic animal species living in a non native environment).

And furthermore, since rivers are not generally conducive to seals residing in them in a healthy and thriving manner (for longer periods of time) yes, in Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea, I certainly would also be wanting considerable information and details on how Elizabeth had over the years managed to successfully find enough food, as of course, the Avon river would obviously not harbour the same types of fish, the same types of sea creatures that elephant seals are used to hunting and consuming in the ocean, in their natural and native environment (and I do very much therefore rather wonder why Lynne Cox never really focusses on this in my opinion essential and necessary consideration, because while Elizabeth, Queen of the Sea is certainly an enjoyable little story to a point, how Elizabeth the elephant seal of Christchurch New Zealand found enough and acceptable food prey in the city's Avon river to adequately sustain herself is in my opinion in every way as necessary a question to be answered as yes, showing that Elizabeth obviously and personally considered Christchurch her home and her turf).

Thanks for the lists! My sister finally took the hooligans away but I will see if the library has any of those as e-books I can save for next time.

Can an Aardvark Bark?

Fun, educational and with illustrator Steve Jenkins' signature realistic but at the same time also never bland, always colourfully imaginative accompanying collage-like artwork, in Can an Aardvark Bark?, author Melissa Stewart basically demonstrates how animals use their voices, by posing an erroneous question and then of course and naturally providing the correct scientific, zoologic answer (that an aardvark does not bark but grunt to communicate, that a seal does not squeal but that it in fact barks, that a wild boar will not roar but indeed squeal and so on and so on). Listing multiple animal species and their diverse voice and communication habits (and finally also asking the intended audience, asking young readers and/or listeners whether they themselves can laugh, grunt, growl, squeal, bellow, bark and whine and that animals definitely use all kinds of different sounds to communicate with each other just like we humans do), Can an Aardvark Bark? is both delightfully simple and at the same time and equally massively enlightening (and with an included short but still totally adequate short bibliography that indeed really does very much increase the teaching and learning value of Can an Aardvark Bark?) and as such in my opinion presenting a perfect educational vehicle to introduce animal sounds and animal communication behaviours to young children.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

So yes, I can certainly understand why and how Steve Jenkins won a 2004 Caldecott Honour designation for What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?, as indeed, his collage-like artwork is generally, is usually truly spectacular (and indeed, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is no exception, with a wonderful and aesthetically delightful combination of realism and colourful imagination). And it has also been very much fun trying to figure out in What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? to which animals the depicted appendages belong (and not just tails, mind you, but also diverse noses, ears, eyes, feet and mouthes) and with Steve Jenkins' and Robin Page's textual information providing not only much interesting and enlightening details but also that the printed words are penned in an engaging and in my opinion sure to lastingly retain interest manner (both in the text proper of What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? and equally in the supplemental details section). But unfortunately and yes, as much as I have certainly enjoyed reading (and looking at) What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? (and as much as I do truly think that this is a wonderful and also entertainingly fun and engaging for children book full of enlightening animal and animal appendages facts and information), that What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? does unfortunately not contain any bibliographical materials whatsoever (no sources being acknowledged and also no suggestions for further reading either), this does definitely to and for me present a rather major intellectual shortcoming and something that has certainly lessened my general reading pleasure and appreciation of What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? (and personally, I also do kind of have to wonder why with regard to including bibliographies, Steven Jenkins is so all over the place so to speak, providing relevant bibliographic materials for some but not for all of his science and zoology themed picture books)

A Little Book of Sloth

Yes indeed, you can most certainly and easily tell by the oh so very much adorable photographs (mostly of rescued and recovering orphaned sloths looking sweet and acting even more so) that author (and trained zoologist) Lucy Cooke obviously totally adores and loves sloths. And most definitely, A Little Book of Sloth is thus and in many if not even in most ways basically and simply a totally and delightfully magical (but at the same time also and appreciatively massively educational and enlightening) combination of text and images, presenting Judy Arroyo's sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica (which author Lucy Cooke has called Slothville, but which actual title seems to be the Aviarios del Caribe) and the important work that Arroyo and her sanctuary do (taking in and caring of orphaned and often seriously injured infant sloths, rehabilitating them and of course if possible, finally releasing them back into the rainforest that is their natural habitat, although from both he pictures and Lucy Cooke's featured narrative, it does seem as though some sloths will actually not be able to be released back into the wild and that they therefore remain in Slothville on a permanent basis). Filled with information not only on sloths as animals but also showing just how hugely important and necessary Lucy Arroyo and her Costa Rican sanctuary for sloths are for the protection and the rehabilitation of sloths that are injured, that have been orphaned, that have been trapped to be made into exotic pets, I most definitely have very much enjoyed A Little Book of Sloth and also much appreciate that Lucy Cooke clearly points out that sloths are wild animals and do not make good pets. And indeed, the only reason why I have ranked A Little Book of Sloth with three and not yet with four stars is that I am (and sadly once again) rather majorly annoyed that this otherwise so informative and educational non fiction picture book on sloths contains no bibliographic materials, contains no suggestions for further study and reading (and that is in my opinion a major shortcoming and that indeed, as a zoologist, Lucy Cooke really should know better, and should have included at the very least a short bibliography in A Little Book of Sloth).

I'll have to add the Aardvark book to my lists, sounds right up the alley of my inner preschool teacher!

Cheryl wrote: "I'll have to add the Aardvark book to my lists, sounds right up the alley of my inner preschool teacher!"

I really enjoyed this and the illustrations are great.

I enjoy Steve Jenkins' books, but I don't think I have seen the Aardvark book yet. I'll have to look for it.
I read the Sloth book back in 2013 and really liked it.

Beverly wrote: "I enjoy Steve Jenkins' books, but I don't think I have seen the Aardvark book yet. I'll have to look for it.
I read the Sloth book back in 2013 and really liked it."

Can an Aardvark Bark? is actually only illustrated by Steve Jenkins and is written by Melissa Stewart.

Beverly wrote: "I enjoy Steve Jenkins' books, but I don't think I have seen the Aardvark book yet. I'll have to look for it.
I read the Sloth book back in 2013 and really liked it."

Those sloth baby pics are just too cute for words.

Giant Squid

In Giant Squid, author Candace Fleming with textual acumen and splendour (both with an eye for education and enlightenment and at the same time with very much lyrical grace and verbal descriptiveness) delightfully demonstrates not only how awe-inspiring (and yes indeed, also to and for us humans, occasionally if not even often creepy and potentially fear-inducing) giant squids are (or at least can be) but also and importantly that giant squid are not really and primarily to be approached as deep sea monsters to be feared and dreaded (and as such also often to be despised and regarded with rank suspicion and superstition) but indeed and first and foremost that giant squid are intelligent denizens of the ocean depths, that giant squid are a necessary link in ocean ecosystems (a so-called apex predator, but yes that giant squids are equally creatures about which not all that much is actually known, about which there still exist many scientific mysteries). Furthermore and yes, Giant Squid also describes that giant squids are not in fact huge and massive creatures right from birth, that giant squids (like most of their octopus and squid kin) actually commence their lives as tiny and as such also very vulnerable to predation less than two inches in body length squidlets, at the mercy of many types of fishes etc. (and it is only if the baby squids in fact manage to survive their time when tiny and prone to being hunted and consumed as prey that they will afterwards become as they mature and grow the giants of the sea and indeed also one of the only denizens of the deep that can successfully hunt adult whales). Accompanied by Eric Rohmann's necessarily rather dark hued artwork (to visually capture in and with Giant Squid the essence of how little sunlight does in fact reach and penetrate the depths of the oceans where giant squid tend to reside), his illustrations are in my humble opinion and most definitely a total and utter treasure and as such both aesthetically powerful and strikingly awesome (as well as actually and in my opinion being very much visually pleasant, but indeed generally in a creepy and a bit chilling manner, and therefore parents reading Giant Squid with or to very young or very sensitive children should probably consider first making sure that Eric Rohmann's pictures of especially staring squid eyes and multitudes of large grasping tentacles are able to be handled without inducing too much fear or in a worst case scenario, even bad dreams, even nightmares). An extensive supplemental information section (containing aside from an illustration of basic giant squid anatomy, important additional scientific and zoologic details on giants squids and yes always retrieving just how much of a mystery giants squids still are also three separate bibliographies), I have certainly and totally been very much impressed with and by both Candace Fleming's educational and enlightening poetry and Eric Rohman's spectacular illustrations and do consider Giant Squid a solid five star picture book and a wonderful marriage of text and images.

Manybooks wrote: "Giant Squid..."

I also read this book a couple of years ago. Here is my short review:
This oversized picture book will give children an idea of just how big this squid is (even though it is not quite life size in the book, it is still pretty large). The text tells that some are as large as school buses, so that will give the reader an idea of how huge the giant squid is. There are a couple of interesting spreads showing the squid's ink. At the end of the book is a spread showing the squid's anatomy and after that more detailed information in an author's note.

I put Aardvark and Squid on my library wish list for my nephews if and when the library ever reopens!

Beverly wrote: "Manybooks wrote: "Giant Squid..."

I also read this book a couple of years ago. Here is my short review:
This oversized picture book will give children an idea of just how big this ..."

I loved everything about this book!