THE SECRET LIFE OF THE SLOTH

A slice of rainforest life.

In the same vein as their Secret Life of the Skunk (2019), Pringle pairs an intimate account of the life of a brown-throated three-fingered sloth to Garchinsky’s impressionistic crayon-and-pastel close-ups of their subjects. Both the protagonist sloth and, later, her offspring bear smiles that may seem at first glance to be anthropomorphic, but that is actually their natural expression. If naming the mother sloth Perezoso (Spanish for sloth, Pringle explains in his afterword) and later commenting that the two sloths sometimes go for a swim “just for fun” stretches reality a bit, in general the author sticks to plausible behavior and emotional responses in his evocatively slow, careful descriptions of the animal’s arboreal habits and physical features. Brushes with a harpy eagle and, following a once-a-week descent to ground level to poop, a jaguar provide dramatic moments, and the closing revelation that once young sloths have grown and learned enough to be independent, it’s the parent who leaves to find a new home range may surprise even well-read young naturalists. (They probably won’t be surprised by the final note about human threats to sloths and their habitats, though.)

Touching and informative: a beguiling invitation to share a branch with a pair of laid-back, uniquely adapted tree dwellers.