Peachtree Publishers – Epic Virtual Book Tour

Stripes of All Types and A Place for Turtles

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Stripes of All Types

written and illustrated by Susan Stockdale

Peachtree Publishers

5 Stripes

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Book Jacket:  What kinds of animals have stripes?  And why do they have them?  To hide more easily?  To recognize one another?  To warn enemies to stay away?  In this book, you’ll learn that animals have stripes for all these reasons . . . and more!

With lyrical, rhyming text and bright, bold images, award-winning author and illustrator Susan Stockdale introduces young readers to the many ways in which animals around the world wear their stripes.

Striped animals are everywhere.  If shown a picture of only stripes, could you identify the animal those stripes belong to?  After reading Stripes of All Types, you might be able to do just that.  Illustrated with acrylics, Ms. Stockdale’s beautiful specimens are loaded with bright, natural stripes, and other patterns, providing a nice balance.  Her text gives the reader a hint, all in alliterative rhyme.  The boxed textures, at the end of the book, look like they are from a master in the world of textiles.  Using the same animals as in the main text, these squares show only the stripes and ask you, the reader, to figure out which stripes belong to which animal.

Stripe of All Types is for the younger reader, yet an older child could also learn much from the additional information on each animal used in the book.  Here’s a great question.  Why do zebras have stripes?*  Don’t know the answer?  Stripe of All Types can explain why zebras have black and white stripes and lots more.

I was unsure what to think when I first started reading the book.  I instantly loved the illustrations and the text is easy to read-aloud.  Each turn of the page settles on a new habitat and a striped animal that calls it home.  There is a total of 19 animals, plus a few extra tropical fish. Once I read it with some gusto, I realized what a fun book this could be.

Toting a shell,

twisting on sand.

Sprawled in a lair,

and sprinting on land.**

There is so much to learn and kids will eat up all the information, unaware they have just devoured a lesson on wild animals.  What I really liked is the information packed in after the poetic lesson on striped animals.  There is much more information on each, plus a game where children can test what they have learned.

Stripes of All Types is an interactive nonfiction book children will want to read and look at multiple times.  Parents can take comfort in the wonderful illustrations and all the great information the author provides.  Kids will love the look of the book, learn new things, and have a fun time doing so.  Boys and girls will like Stripe of All Types equally.  I think every lower grade teacher will enjoy having this book in her classroom library.  I look forward to Ms. Stockton’s next creation: a book about spotted animals published by Peachtree in 2015./

*When in a herd, zebras’ stripes make it difficult for a predator to distinguish one zebra from another.

**Florida Tree Snail/Zebra Moray Eel/Tiger/Common Zebra

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Stripes of All Types

by Susan Stockdale    website    facebook
Peachtree Publishers     website    blog    facebook
Released April 1, 2013 (This is true – not a prank!)
ISBN:  9781561456956
32 pages
Ages: 2 to 6
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Copyright © 2013 by Peachtree Publishers, used with permission.
Text:  Copyright © 2013 by Susan Stockdale
Illustrations:  Copyright © 2013 by Susan Stockdale

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DONATED TO PUBLIC LIBRARY

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Related articles

• Tigers (maxinedevillefranche.com)
• Animal Attraction: Exploring Animals with Picture Books (teachwithpicturebooks.blogspot.com)
• Protecting the Zebra and other Endangered Animals (guest post) (thelittlegreenplaypen.wordpress.com)
• Helping hands for Olive Ridley hatchlings (thehindu.com)
• Florida Hotspot For Reptiles At Risk Of Extinction (naturalhistorywanderings.com)

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A Place for Turtles

by Melissa Stewart

Higgins Bond, illustrator

Peachtree Publishers

5 Stars

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Inside Jacket:  In simple yet informative language, A Place for Turtles introduces young readers to ways human action or inaction can affect turtle populations and opens kids’ minds to a wide range of environmental issues. Describing various examples—from the Alabama red-bellied turtle to the desert tortoise—the text provides an intriguing look at turtles, at the ecosystems that support their survival, and at the efforts to save them. The author includes a list of things readers can do to help protect turtles in their own communities. Artist Higgins Bond’s glorious full-color illustrations vividly and accurately depict the turtles and their surroundings.

First Sentence:  Turtles make our world a better place.

A Place for Turtles is a fascinating look at the roles humans have played in the survival of many turtle species.  Each spread explains one problem, a turtle species directly affected by the human carelessness, and ways to correct the situation.  The Loggerhead Turtle is a sea turtle. At one time fishing nets caught many of these turtles along with the shrimp.  The turtles could not escape and would die.  In 1988, Congress passed a law requiring all fishing nets have a turtle excluder device, a trap door the turtles can use to escape, but shrimp cannot.

ΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦθθθθθΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦΦ

I love this book.  The information is fascinating (which I might have already mentioned).  The author uses a different turtle’s plight for each problem she explains.  This gives a small glimpse into the lives of nine turtles and one tortoise.  Some problems I had been aware of, but the growth of Las Vegas, for example, having a dire effect on the Desert Tortoise was new information. I think kids will find much of this new and enlightening.  A Place for Turtles is a primer on turtles.  Kids can use the information on school reports or simply to gain an understanding of this reptile.  The turtle shell contains 60 bones according to one of the Terrific Turtle Tidbits in the back of the book.  A bibliography and a couple of websites can direct you to the resources Ms. Stewart referred to for accuracy.

The illustrations are tremendous.  The details and accuracy make for outstanding reproductions.  Ms. Bond’s realistic acrylic on cold pressed illustration board fooled my eyes into thinking it was three-dimensional.  The vivid turtles and their surroundings are amazing to look at.  The illustrations alone make A Place for Turtles worth the purchase price—not to discount the hard word and incredible amount of vetted information Ms. Stewart wrote.

I think boys will especially appreciate A Place for Turtles, though I would not discount girls.  Girls wrote this gem after all.  I like the inside cover, back and front, which have the location of each species along with a picture of the turtle.  The publisher could have eliminated these color maps.  That Peachtree did not shows the value they place on their picture books as a whole.

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A Place for Turtles

by Melissa Stewart    website    blog    blog
Higgins Bond, illustrator    website
Peachtree Publishers    website   blog   facebook
Released March 1, 2013
ISBN:  978-1-56145-693-2
32 pages
Ages: 6 to 10
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Copyright © 2013 by Peachtree Publishers, used with permission.
Text:  Copyright © 2013 by Melissa Stewart
Illustrations:  Copyright © 2013 by Higgins Bond

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.DONATED TO PUBLIC LIBRARY

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 Schedule for this Peachtree Epic Virtual Book Tour

Monday 3/18
Letters Numbers and Books

Thursday 3/21
It’s About Time, MaMaw 

Thank you, dear readers, for sticking with this unusual double review.