Another Great Life Science Title

I'm always on the look-out for new book titles to add to my science picture book collection, especially the books I've collected that deal with life science. In my 5th grade classroom, we talk about food chains, food webs, and the interdependence of living things within an ecosystem.

Several years ago, one of my colleagues (thanks, Sarah!) introduced me to a great book called Butternut Hollow Pond. It was a wonderful way to look at a pond ecosystem and how the living things within that ecosystem interact. It has served as a wonderful "kick off" to this life science unit for the last several years.

After acquiring Butternut Hollow, I started to look for books about other ecosystems and the living things within them. Looking at this wonderful collection of picture books I have brought into our classroom library is so much better than the science textbook reading!!

So, when I stumbled upon a new title (new to me; it was published in 2009) last spring at a conference, I had to have it. Whoo Goes There by Jennifer A. Ericsson and illustrated by Bert Kitchen is a delight, and a wonderful companion book to Butternut Hollow Pond. The reader is introduced to Owl, who just wants something to eat, and is really craving a tasty mouse. Page after page shows us the different animals Owl sees in his ecosystem and why they won't work for him. More importantly, the author shares with the reader what the other animals in the ecosystem are eating. Perfect follow-up to food chains!

It is written lyrically, with repeated refrains. It is a nonfiction picture book that would appeal to many ages through elementary. I think I will read this right after we dissect our owl pellets next week, and find the skeletons and skulls of the animals the owls have eaten. What fun to wrap up that hands-on activity with such a lovely picture book.

I'm delighted to put Whoo Goes There? in my classroom library.

How To Clean a Hippopotamus

I bought How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships by Steven Jenkins and Robin Page this past spring, put it on my bookshelf to read, and then forgot about it. I'm so disappointed about that because this book is an amazing find. It would have been a perfect complement to the life science unit I taught in the spring dealing with ecosystems, food chains, food webs, and interdependence.

This book deals entirely with symbiosis - how animals form mutually beneficial relationships with each other. What Jenkins and Page have done is choose some of the more unusual partnerships and highlighted them. I anticipate that when I share this book, I will hear comments like, "Gross," "Awesome," "They did what," and "No way," just to name a few.

Some of the relationships this book deal with are:

• cleaning by one animal of another (a plover cleaning a crocodile's teeth)
• protection from predators (upside-down jellyfish on top of a crab)
• hunting/finding food (the coyote and badger vs. the prairie dog)
• providing or sharing homes (black tree ants and woodpeckers)

Each double-page layout has a theme, and this is divided up into smaller boxes, anywhere from 3 - 8 boxes per page. Jenkins and Page co-wrote the text which is so amazing, but Jenkins' illustrations are perfect at both complementing the text, as well as engaging the reader.

In addition, for those readers who still want more knowledge, in the back of the book, the authors share even more information about symbiosis. They also have each double-page layout reduced, and underneath tell the size, habitat, and diet of each animal mentioned on those 2 pages.

How to Clean a Hippopotamus is a great nonfiction mentor text, as it so adeptly pairs the visual information with the written information. This will be one of those books I share multiple times throughout the year. I love Steve Jenkins' work, and he and Robin Page have another winner on their hands!!