Skip to main content

Five Faves: Animals

Image
By

I love picture books and short informational books so much! I always appreciate when a beautiful story can be told in a very succinct manner. I enjoy recommending picture books and shorter informational books to anyone and everyone. Even if it's a topic a person doesn't think they are interested in, it's easy to say, "Oh, here, read this. It's just a quick read!" Sometimes people learn they are more interested in a topic than they realized. A topic almost everyone loves is animals. Recently, I have read an abundance of animal stories. Here are five of  my favorites, and I hope you enjoy them as well.

Springtime Storks
Written by Carol Joy Munro
Illustrated by Chelsea O'Byrne
Westminster, MD: Minerva, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, 2024. Picture Book.

This story is one of my favorite picture books I have read this year, and it completely drew me in. It is told from the perspective of a female stork, Katerina, who is shot down while flying. A kind man scoops the bird up to help her, but doesn't know that her mate, Luka, is left behind in the field, worried sick. This is a beautiful love story as well as a tribute to the kindness in humans, inspired by a true story. This book left me feeling hopeful in humanity, and appreciative of the bonds animals can form.

We Leap Together
By Christopher Silas Neal
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2025. Picture Book. 

This beautiful book draws such lovely parallels between animal life and the world as humans experience it. The color palette is gorgeous, and the words really spoke to me. Reading picture books is such a great way to teach children about humanity, and how to appreciate the world around them. This book would be a great place for starting so many discussions about similarities and differences, patterns, as well as the beauty of nature, and the strength of family bonds.

Born Inside a Nest So Small
By Iza Trapani
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2025. Informational.

Hummingbirds are so interesting to me. Their grace and delicate presence are intriguing. This beautifully illustrated informational book includes a list of additional reading recommendations, as well as websites to learn more about hummingbirds. I appreciated the author's note where the reader learns more about why the book was written. The poetic nature is perfect for presenting the subject matter.


Not a Dog
Written by Claudia Guadalupe Martinez
Illustrated by Laura Gonzalez
Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge, 2025. Informational.

This book includes a variety of learning elements: shapes, Spanish vocabulary words, and the fact that prairie dogs are not actually dogs. This is a quick read about an animal I had never had any reason to be interested in. Because of reading this book, I learned some interesting things about the rodent, and more about prairie life. I really appreciated the illustrator's work to tie all the animal life together so nicely.

Poo Pile on the Prairie
By Amy Hevron
New York: Beach Lane Books, 2025. Informational.

The title of the book made me chuckle, as I'm sure it will most kids. If you are a grown-up who wants to shy away because of the title, please don't! This book is very informative and will delight kids who are interested in ecology or plants and animal habitats, and especially how they can coexist. The author does a great job presenting information in a way that is very appealing to kids. The book follows the poo pile through all four season. I think readers will be left astounded at how much they learn!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Alice with a Why

By
Alice with a Why By Anna James New York: Penguin, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. In 1919, in the aftermath of the first World War, Alyce is living with her grandmother in the English countryside. Her grandmother, also named Alice, tells Alyce (with a y) stories from her childhood adventures in a wonderful land filled with white rabbits and mad hatters. Alyce doesn't really believe the silly stories, she just misses her father who was killed in the war. One day, Alyce receives a mysterious invitation to tea, and subsequently falls into a pond where she is transported to Wonderland. Her grandmother, of course, is that Alice. Alyce is prompted by the Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare to seek out the Time Being and put an end to the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. Thus begins Alyce's adventure through Wonderland. I have a certain soft spot for the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my particular favorites and I often have a hard time reading new int...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

By
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more