"Digging, wiggling,
whiskers jiggling,
Walrus, sea beast,
wants a clam feast.
wants a clam feast.
What's he doing?
Seafloor stewing.
Lips on shells, Walrus sucks,
Seafloor stewing.
Lips on shells, Walrus sucks,
slurping clams, leaving shucks."
Little ones love to learn about animals they may never see, but do recognize. A walrus leads an impressive life filled with ocean and land noises, with forays onto land and into deep waters, and with an endless search for food.
The tiny puffin that provides company for its enormous friend is there when the walrus rises from the ocean's depths. While in water, the walrus does what walruses do. Upon its return, it springs a surprise for its pal, which will surely encourage laughter. The difficulty faced in finding leverage for a return to the ice floe is carefully described with perfectly chosen words, such as haul, lumber, flap, nuzzle.
A return to the herd keeps attention on 'our' walrus. It also leads to a close-up look at the mayhem that results when one walrus chooses to fight another. It is quite the battle of brutish creatures. And the sounds heard while watching walrus as they call to one another and sing songs are quite fascinating.
"Honk, honkkk!
HOOO, HOOOOOT!
Squee! Squee, SQWEEE!
Toot, TOOT!
SPUUH, sppputtterrr
Huhh, HUFFF
Swee, SWEEE!
Grrr, GRRUFF!"
Listeners will be in their element helping to interpret these sounds. There is a lot to learn in this full-of-fun introduction about habitat, food, physical traits and various sounds made. The acccurate lifelike artwork is quite stunning and offers close-up details of a walrus in the water and on the ice floes. An afterword section called Walrus Facts explains descriptive language used in this fine informational picture book.
No comments:
Post a Comment