BEES, SNAILS, & PEACOCK TAILS

Rhymes and stunning illustrations convey the patterns and shapes of birds, insects, spiders, a snail and one mammal (a mouse). Franco’s verses are lively, and Jenkins’s hand-made paper illustrations often highlight the shapes through the pictures and through the placement of text, as in the case of the circular shape of the puffer fish, the wedge of the geese and the spiral of the snail. Some of the words (e.g., kaleidoscopic, profound) will require elucidation for the intended audience, and the rhyming format limits the information that can be conveyed, although a section with additional background on each animal is appended. Despite the sketchiness of the information (the pattern or shape the ants make—is it a straight line?—is not clear, for example), this is a lovely book that will work well as a read-aloud, connect with the concepts of shapes and patterns that are frequently part of early childhood curriculum and provide a springboard for discussion. (Informational picture book/poetry. 4-8)