Henrietta Bancroft taught nature study and elementary science at the Walden School in New York.
Richard G. Van Gelder was the chairman of the Mammology Department at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Helen K. Davie has illustrated many books for children, including What Lives in a Shell? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld, and Echoes for the Eye: Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature by Barbara Juster Esbensen. Ms. Davie lives in San Jose, CA.
Helen K. Davie's lovely watercolors have appeared in many children's books, including
What Lives in a Shell? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfield, and
Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder. She lives in Templeton, CA.
Winter is coming, and the animals are preparing: Some birds, bats, and butterflies migrate; other animals hibernate. The squirrel and pika gather food and store it; mice, deer, rabbits, and the handsome red fox on the dust jacket forage and hunt all winter long. The concluding pages show ways to help animals during the season: leaving seeds, suet, and fruit for the birds; dried corn for the squirrels; and shrubs with berries for foragers. A surprising amount of information appears in the short sentences and brief text of this Let's-Read-and-Find-Out title. Most of the animals, appearing without their scientific names, are familiar, with the exception of the pika. The illustrations are unusually attractive, swept clean of extraneous detail, and using a limited palette to heighten the drama: One effective spread shows brown deer and white snow against a stormy green-black sky. An informative volume. (Picture book/nonfiction. 3-6) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.