Mites to Mastodons: A Book of Animal Poems - Hardcover

Kumin, Maxine

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0618507531 ISBN 13: 9780618507535

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers, 2006

Synopsis

From as little as the snail to as big as the giraffe, from the thundering mastodon of long ago to the ordinary backyard squirrel of today, the animals in this book inspire our imagination.

Here is a fascinating cornucopia that exudes a whimsical affection and respect for the creatures with whom we share our kingdom.

About this title

About the Author:

Pamela Zagarenski is the winner of two Caldecott Honors. The books she has illustrated have also been Booklist Editor's Choices, Horn Book Fanfare and Bulletin Blue Ribbon books, winners of Bank Street's Claudia Lewis Award, and translated into many languages. As well as illustrating picture books, she creates paintings and has a gift card line. She lives in Connecticut. Visit her online at pzagarenski.com, on Instagram @sacredbee, and Twitter @sacredbeez.

From Booklist:

From dot-size mites to thundering mastodons, Kumin celebrates the animal kingdom's full spectrum in her latest picture-book collection of poems. Each of the mostly rhyming selections combines playful nonsense with animal facts, such as habitat and diet: "Nobody has to tell him to finish / his beans, asparagus, peas, or spinach," reads "Rabbit." Several selections show a fascination with animals' prehistoric roots: "Old bull of the waters, / old dinosaur cousin" begins "Alligator." "Million of years of evolution / led to this bizarre solution" refers to the divergent genetic paths that manatees and elephants, who share an ancestor, have followed. A final poem, about extinction, adds an uplifting call to action: "look after the mammals and birds / and reptiles and fish that are left." Zagarenski's whimsical paint, paper, and photo collages amplify the playfulness in endearing, expressive images of sweetly fanged mites and a flying squirrel clad in a star-bellied leotard. Match this with Douglas Florian's books and with Joyce Sidman's Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow, reviewed on p.51. Gillian Engberg
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About this edition

• Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0618507531
• ISBN 13: 9780618507535
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Zagarenski Pamela