Mama Dug a Little Den by Jennifer Ward - OPTIONAL

Mama Dug a Little Den by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Steve Jenkins. PICTURE BOOK. Beach Lane Press (Simon & Schuster), 2018 $18. 9781481480376

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - OPTIONAL.

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE

This text pairs a rhyming, rhythmic portion with an informational piece for each animal and their den habitat.  The spread includes one animal type, a rhyming portion that is four sentences long, and one paragraph explaining the den in detail. The illustrations are made from a collage of textured papers. 

I thought it was interesting to learn about the female role with these animals, but other than that it was kind of a boring read. I don’t think it will hold most students’ attention spans unless you are doing something deliberate with it - an art project on recreating an animals habitat, for example. The other option is just to read a few animals at a time to spark interest for animal reports. 

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher