National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Animals by Catherine D. Hughes

My little girl is going into her third month of Pre-K, and she's having soooo much fun. I think I was more excited than her when she brought home her first Scholastic Book order form. I let her pick out two books, and her first choice was National Geographic Little Kids First Big Book of Animals. Since it arrived a few weeks ago, we've read it cover to cover at least three times. She also used it as last week's book report in Tae Kwon Do.

Because it's a NatGeo book, there is naturally amazing photography of all types of animals, but what makes the book stand out is its child-friendly format and content. I've seen TONS of non-fiction for kids that is packed with big words and tons of details, but this one presents information in easily digestible chunks and the author chose facts that seem to be naturally interesting for young children. The book is organized into different habitats with spreads of the types of animals that live in those habitats. The book is oversized (10x10), so there is plenty of real estate for fun facts. Each spread contains a call-out box with quick facts such where the animal is from, what it eats, and how many babies it normally has at once. The pictures also have captions and call-outs with fun facts. There are also typically a couple of paragraphs that provide more detail.

I tend to prefer non-fiction that tells more of a story or narrative, but this is a great choice for a quick reference. I can see it being used across the curriculum for language arts, geography, and science. This would even be good in math and technology classes.

4-Year-Old's Review:

"I like this book because it has a red-eye tree frog. The red-eye tree frog has red eyes all of the time, but that doesn't mean he's sad. It lays its eggs on a leaf, and they look like fish when they hatch. And I like all of the pictures, especially the one of the giraffe drinking water. Next time I go to a pond, I'm going to try to drink like that if the water isn't green."

ISBN: 978-1426307041 | Publisher: National Geographic, 2010 | Source: Purchased copy

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