"While you eat one meal at a time ...
... a pygmy shrew nibbles all day and all
night long.
This little mammal has to eat pretty much
nonstop to survive. If it goes even a few
hours without food, the pygmy shrew is a
goner. So it spends most of its time in soft
soil looking for prey, such as bugs and
spiders. Even at night, the shrew scarfs
down a meal about every fifteen minutes,
sleeping for just a few moments here and
there."
This is just the kind of book that young learners want to read, or have read to them. It arms them with information they are thrilled to share at every turn. The fact that it's about animals, food, and the way we eat is such a bonus for them.
It's time to find out how familiar animals get and use foods to keep them full and healthy. The ways children eat are compared to those animals included in the book. Starting with a child slurping soup, a turn of the page shows a butterfly slurping up liquids, including a turtle's tears for the salt that keeps the butterfly healthy. I had no idea!
Lunch bags are compared to a chipmunk's cheek pouch. Storing leftovers in the fridge is compared to the Canada Jay's ability to store scraps in trees many times a day, and then being able to find where they left them! While children snack on popcorn, crocodiles swallow rocks that will help them grind the big chunks of food they like to eat.
The design is the same throughout, making for an appealing way to learn these small lessons about animals and their foods. Bright and colorful digital illustrations make the transition from human to animal characters easily anticipated. Facts are presented in concise paragraphs when describing the variety in eating habits these animals display. Back matter discusses the fact that, like humans, without food none of these animals would survive. A list for suggested reading follows.
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