Polar Lands by Sean Callery - OPTIONAL

Callery, Sean  Life Cycles: Polar Lands  Kingfisher, 2011.  $6.99  PICTURE BOOK/NON-FICTION  Content: G  

This is a nonfiction picture book about animals that life in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.  Each page layout describes a specific animal and what it eats and where it lives.  Then on a side bar it places the animal on a food chain with an explanation about who its biggest predator is.  Each page layout answers questions under the title “Did you know?” about the animal and shows a four-step life cycle of the animal.  There is also a paragraph describing the animal and a small box at the bottom of the page that previews the predator that will be described on the next page.   The explanations are basic and easy to understand.  The information is interesting and the pictures are clear and fun to look at.  There are two parts that I found frustrating and confusing:  First, it goes back and forth between the two regions of Artic and Antarctica; Second, at the end there is a food chain showing how the animals all fit and on the food chain are a few animals that are not described in the book.  Overall, it was interesting and a good basic introduction to these types of animals, but there are probably better books out there.  

EL (K-3), EL - OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.