NF Picture Books - Amazing Nature

art by Sarah S. Brannen

Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her post and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

           Thirteen animals are explored in this wonderful book first published in Spain about how animals build their homes and the interesting, and needed, approach each chooses in that construction. With marvelous mixed-media illustrations by Julio Antonio Blasco, Daniel Nassar shares much information about each, like where and why the home type, how it's built, and special characteristics of the animals that aid the construction. Each page has a unique fold-out that mimics a "plan" with materials listed and the actual project drawn on graph paper. (see example below).

An example of a full double-page spread.

What is seen when you lift the flap on the right in the page shown above.

          From insects like termites to birds like the bower bird and including mammals like chimpanzees, it's a wide array of architectural masterpieces explained. I loved the way the home site of each animal is cleverly added to the pages, like those above with the African tree frog's home nestled high in a tree to protect against predators, but over water so when the eggs hatch, those little tadpoles fall into the water. 

         This book will be a great beginning to a classroom study of "homes" or part of a study of "animals". It's terrific. And it will make a great pairing with A House In The Sky: And Other Uncommon Animal Homes by Steve Jenkins and Robin Gourley. See Alyson's post above for its new honor.