Literature Links

Bats: Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davis

From Publishers Weekly
Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies, illus. by Sarah Fox-Davies, follows the pipstrelle bats' nocturnal wanderings. Dusky watercolor-and-pencil illustrations add enigmatic beauty; bat facts appear in a different typeface and illuminate the narrative. Pencil sketches on the endpapers label different kinds of bats with their common and scientific names.

Bats by Lily Wood

SCHOLASTIC SCIENCE READERS: BATS offers a close-up look at these creatures of the night. Kids will learn where bats live, what they eat, how they find prey by using echolocation, how they help people, and how people can help them.

Butterfly: Farfallina & Marcel by Holly Keller:  Once there was a caterpillar named Farfallina, whose best friend was a gosling named Marcel. They played together all the time. They liked the same games, and they liked each other.  But one day everything changed.  Can best friends remain best friends no matter what happens? For Farfallina and Marcel, who endure growing up and growing apart only to find that it brings them closer together, the happy answer is "yes."  *HarperCollinsChildrens.com

 The Butterfly by Anna Milbourne and Cathy Shimmen

This beautifully illustrated book introduces young children to the life cycle of a butterfly.  Although the cycle focused on is that of a monarch butterfly, other species of caterpillars and butterflies are shown.

Deer:  The Race of Toad and Deer by Pat Mora From School Library Journal
Venado, the wood deer, considers himself king of the jungle, a position he feels he merits by virtue of being the biggest and fastest of its inhabitants. While biggest is not in dispute, T'o Sapo, the old toad, feels that he is the fastest. When Venado challenges Sapo to a race, the outcome is decided not so much by speed as by wits. This Guatemalan version of "The Tortoise and the Hare" is retold in straightforward, snappy language that begs for oral presentation. It is soundly complemented by Domi's brilliantly colored, kinetic watercolors. Primitive forms that sometimes seem to be free-floating on vibrant, multihued backgrounds give the impression of a jungle teeming with life.

Firefly: Firefly Night by Carole Gerber

In this lyric poem inspired by lines from Longfellow's Hiawatha, a firefly leads a small Chippewa girl through the forest to her outdoor cradle. Along the way, the firefly flashes its "golden signal" to reveal many creatures of the night. Marty Husted's vivid and historically accurate illustrations depict the child's respect for nature, central to all Native American cultures. Its fanciful premise, reverent words, and beautiful images make Firefly Night a beguiling bedtime tale for children everywhere. *Book description from Amazon.com

Fireflies by Cheryl Coughlan

Introduces some of the characteristics of fireflies that include information on their color, their body shape, and their lantern which makes light.

Fish: Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Card catalog description
A little black fish in a school of red fish figures out a way of protecting them all from their natural enemies.

Fish Faces by Norbert Wu

The glowing photos and simple text provide a rare look at some strangely shaped and/or brightly colored ocean dwellers for young readers.

Frogs: The wide-mouthed frog by Keith Faulkner

From Publishers Weekly

A curious frog goes a bit too far when querying his neighbors about their eating habits in this simplified, pop-up version of a traditional American tale. "I'm a wide-mouthed frog and I eat flies," he announces, demonstrating in flamboyant, 3-D splendor just how he got the appellation "wide-mouthed." Each spread features a different animal describing its meal of choice, including a blue-feathered bird (worms and slugs), a furry brown mouse (seeds and berries) and, finally, ominously, a big, green alligator. The creatures are depicted in sunny colors and show off uncomplicated but large, well-constructed pop-up beaks, whiskers and snouts. When the alligator answers that he eats "delicious wide-mouthed frogs," Frog's comical response, resulting in a climactic fold-out "Splash!" will have readers giggling aloud.

•From Tadpole to Frog by Wendy Pfeffer

Wendy Pfeffer describes the amazing metamorphosis from tiny, jellylike egg, to little fishy tadpole, to great big bullfrog. Holly Keller has created the archetypal frog pond and we see it through the seasons as the tadpoles grow legs and lungs and eventually hop onto land: bullfrogs at last. "Well-designed ink drawings washed with soft-toned watercolors stretch across the double-page spreads, showing the action above and below water level. . . .an attractive, general introduction."—BL.

Ladybugs:  A Ladybug’s Life by John Himmelman

Product Description

Examines the life cycle of a ladybug’s life.

Lara Ladybug by Christine Florie

Product Description
Rookie Readers actively engage young readers, encouraging language development, building fluency, and promoting independent reading. By targeting a skill, like learning about rhymes, young readers are building fundamental reading skills with the help of fun, lively, colorfully illustrated stories.

Lara Ladybug has lost her spots. Where can she find them?

Mouse: Two Tiny Mice by Alan Baker

From Publishers Weekly
When two field mice take a peek at the vast world around them, they discover a whole host of interesting creatures. Baker's unusual "mouse's eye view" of nature provides an extraordinary wealth of detail. Flowers, berries, leaves and grasses fill his pages, providing a decorative frame for animals including a frog, a weasel, a squirrel and a fox. There is a pleasing continuity as the mice scamper forward in search of new sights, and children will relish finding the whimsical rodents on the bottom of each page. Baker's exquisite illustrations cannot fail to captivate …

Owl: Owl Babies by Martin Waddell

From Publishers Weekly
Three worried owlets wait for their mother to return from her night flight. PW said, Benson's disarming cross-hatched pictures of fluffy, wide-eyed owl babies, and the use of light-colored text against a black background, turn this sweet story into a hauntingly lovely book.

Plants: From Kernel to Cob by Ellen Weiss

From Scholastic

The simple text and pictures tells the life cycle of corn.

Rabbit: Rabbits and Raindrops  by Jim Arnosky

It's the first day outside the nest for Mother rabbit's five babies, and all sorts of new creatures and adventures await them. But when a sudden rain shower sends the rabbits scurrying for shelter under the hedge, the other wild animals come to visit them! Jim Arnosky's graceful watercolors and simple text are sure to delight children experiencing nature's wonders for the first time

Snake: The Greedy Python by Richard Buckley/Eric Carle

From the school Library Journal; Buckley's original verse based on Aesop's themes with Carle's bold, vibrant collages creates a dynamic collaboration. …integrated with the illustrations, the text flows flawlessly in its interpretation of greed. With typical aplomb Carle splashes the pages with greens, yellows, browns and blues, recreating many of his popular creatures.

Spider: Are you a Spider? By Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries

In Spider, the narration addresses a newly hatched spider, instructing it in the art of spinning thread and creating a proper web, and warning it to watch out for birds and wasps. Humphries' artwork, colorful and precise, offers large-scale pictures just right for sharing with preschool and primary-grade classes.

Turkeys: Turkey’s Gift to the People by Ani Rucki

Turkey's Gift to the People is a modern adaptation and interpretation of a traditional Navajo folktale. … The story acknowledges the close relationship most Native American cultures hold among all forms of life, as illustrated by the fact that cooperation and teamwork enabled everyone to survive the terrible flood. Review by Daniel L Berek

Little Tom Turkey by Frances Bloxam

Product Description
Tom is the youngest in a family of wild turkey chicks, but he has big ambitions. He never stops thinking about what he really wants to do -- to fluff his feathers and fan out his tail and strut like the magnificent Big Gobbler. But Little Tom is, well, little, and when he tries to strut, he just topples over. What Tom doesn't know is that time and nature are on his side, and that all he really needs to do is be patient and concentrate on learning all the things a wild turkey needs to know.

Turtle: The Turtle and the Moon by Charles Turner

Everyday, Turtle goes about his usual activities alone, but he longs for a playmate. One night he wakes up to find something very big, very round, and very different from anything he has ever seen--the moon. It doesn't speak to him, but together they go swimming, play hide-and-seek, tag, and diving games. Turtle eventually falls asleep and his friend disappears with the rising sun, only to return the following evening. Mathis's deep-toned pastel drawings successfully capture the yellow-orange of the setting sun as well as the purple-pink as it rises the next day. They work hand in hand with Turner's warm, simple text. --Rachel Fox, Port Washington Pub. Lib

Worms: Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser

Card catalog description
Describes the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of the common earthworm.  First Sentence:  Earthworms are fat and wiggly like my fingers and toes. 

Fontenelle Nature Association

Science in the Early Years-Natural Science Programming for the Very Young

kmurphy@fontenelleforest.org