How to Help a Hedgehog and Protect a Polar Bear
Jess French and Angela Keoghan
It’s never too early to get your children interested in, and involved with, conservation and helping to care for our planet and the amazing creatures that share it with us.
Jess French, a zoologist, naturalist and vet, demonstrates that small-seeming actions can be significant and each one contributes to the whole huge conservation task. For each of the dozen habitats – gardens, hedgerows,
heathlands, woodlands, highlands, wetlands, bodies of freshwater, coastlines, oceans, savannahs, jungles and mountains, she suggests straightforward everyday things we can all do to help protect these precious ecosystems and contribute towards making them places where the fauna and flora can thrive.
We might for instance create a bee-friendly wild part of our garden or build a log pile so lizards or insects have a warm, safe place to survive the winter chills.
Or perhaps when out and about we might participate in a butterfly or dragonfly count in a local wetland area. All these things can make a difference to the bigger picture as well as being thoroughly enjoyable.
Angela Keoghan’s splendid illustrations add to the pleasures of this absorbing and inspiring book that’s just perfect for young aspiring conservationists either at home or in school.
Maria Gianferrari and Jia Liu
Boyd Mills Press
Here’s a smashing little book that demonstrates the enormous versatility of animal tongues presenting the information in a really fun interactive way for young children who will delight at being asked, as they are on the opening page to ‘Stick out your tongue!’ as well as trying to imagine it as a straw, a mop and a sword.
Courtesy of a monkey presenter, we follow the creature as it tries out the various possibilities: for instance a sword-like tongue, as used by a woodpecker, becomes a sharp tool with which to stab insects especially beetle larvae that burrow beneath the tree bark.
The pages work in pairs with the recto asking the question and using a common object
and the verso providing an illustration of the kind of animal with that particular sort of tongue as well as some interesting relevant facts.
The final pages look at human tongues with some amusing things to try, as well as further information on the animal tongues featured (I love the rhyming spread) and where the creatures live.
The entire book is great fun to use with a group who will eagerly anticipate what’s coming; and its patterned text also makes it a great one for learner readers to try themselves. All will enjoy Jia Liu’s playful digital illustrations.