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Carnivores

Carnivores
by Aaron Reynolds
illustrated by Dan Santat

San Francisco : Chronicle Books, c2013.
unpaged picture book
 
Nobody seems to like lion, wolf or shark. Nobody understands them and their insatiable hunger for other smaller (but juicy) creatures. They form a support group and discuss ideas for blending in with the other animals. Wolf's idea of going vegetarian doesn't quite work the way they had planned. Shark's disguise method isn't much better. It seems to work at first, lion wears an antelope costume and he is treated "so nicely" until "other antelopes smelled his zebra breath". Finally lion decides to bring in the oldest and wisest carnivore he knows. The great horned owl teaches the animals that it is okay being a meat-eater, that is just how they are. Accepting themselves for who and what they are is the first step to recovery for these animals.  Carnivores is a great picture book for teaching a couple very important concepts. One, being true to yourself. You shouldn't feel you need to completely change yourself just to make others happy. This is also a good choice for teaching kids about the food chain and why it exists in nature. A truly entertaining story, but the illustrations are the best!
 

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