School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Williams explores the habitats of various and sundry creatures around the world in simple verse. For example, "Busy beaver uses logs/To dam a stream and build a lodge." "Chattering monkeys screech and yell;/Jungle living suits them well." Definitions and factual descriptions of specific habitats and the animals inhabiting them are appended. A final spread is devoted to the characteristics and ecology of spiders, creatures that "live all over the world, except Antarctica." Unfortunately, the rhyming text seems contrived, and the informational paragraphs are occasionally inaccurate and confusing. For example, the book states that female kangaroos have pouches "in which their babies are born." Those looking for materials on this topic should try Laura Purdie Salas's Do Turtles Sleep in Treetops? (Picture Window, 2006) or Wendy Perkins's Animals Building Homes (Capstone, 2004). The charming folk-art-style illustrations done in watercolor and ink are the bright spot of this book. As an added bit of whimsy, Fowler has hidden a spider in every scene, which young readers may delight in finding.-Debbie Lewis O'Donnell, Alachua County Library District, Gainesville, FL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This picture book from a British team offers a rhythmic cataloguing of some familiar animals and their habitats. Some of the rhymes can be clunky ("Humpbacked camel, with wide feet,/ Stands on sands of desert heat./ Slithering snake, with stretchy jaw,/ Skulks slyly on the sandy floor"), but the eye-catching artwork resembles linocuts. Each spread features a pair of animals that shares the same environment (e.g., kangaroo and koala), with one creature receiving slightly more than full-page billing and the other a panel or vignette on the facing page. A thick black line defines each creature and its habitat, while fiesta-bright colors bring them to life. Text twists and curves alongside a set of animal tracks. Though some of the descriptions feel cliched (e.g., "soaring eagle"), the younger set will appreciate the book's soothing rhythm and sun-drenched, playful art. In one scene, a curved-neck heron fishes in a busy stream; in another, three deer solemnly stand in a birch-lined meadow. The latter third of the book provides additional facts about the featured animals and their homes, including a final spread devoted exclusively to spiders (at least one can be found on each spread). Nature-loving readers will enjoy this quick mini-safari to habitats around the globe. Ages 5-9. (Mar.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
