Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This alphabet book features vivid photographs of African animals. Readers will recognize a cheetah, elephant, and lion, but this husband-and-wife naturalist team also highlights unsung species like the tsessebe, the umbrette, and the dung beetle. Even X finds a match: "Xenopus bullfrogs like to sit in water that is extra shallow." Appended animal facts and a glossary for words like "vociferous" underscore the book's dual focus on diverse animal characteristics and language development. Ages 2-5. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-The Jouberts have spent 25 years living among, writing about, and photographing the animals of Africa and how they live, play, eat, and care for one another. They have used their knowledge and experience to create a charming alphabet book. The alliterative text flows smoothly, introducing a new animal for each letter. ("B is for Baboon: These boisterous baby baboons are bouncy little apes that like to babble and bicker....") Each animal has a factual aside such as: "Did you know? An ostrich's eye is 2 inches (5 centimeters) across. It has the largest eye of any land animal." The full-bleed, full-color photography is spectacular, catching each animal in its natural environment. Two pages at the end provide facts about the animal's home, size, food, sounds, and babies. An excellent choice for most libraries.-Cynde Suite, Bartow County Library System, Adairsville, GA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Two National Geographic "Explorers-in-Residence" provide information about various African animals, one for each letter of the alphabet. The volume's standouts are the photographs; the text is less successful, with its search-and-find game element leading to awkward alliteration: "Two dung beetles roll dirty dung into a decorative ball..." Still, it's a worthy addition to collections. Reading list, websites. Glos. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The Jouberts, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence, introduce young readers to the African animals they have studied for years and give them a lesson in letters at the same time.A large capital letter frames every page (sadly, without its lowercase counterpart), while the photography takes center stage. A short paragraph either introduces a fact or two about the animal or describes what is happening in the photograph. Heavy alliteration encourages kids to look for each instance of the featured letter on the pagehow many b's are on the baboon page? Attempts to include the featured letter in the paragraph sometimes feel forced, overly anthropomorphic or inappropriate; for example, after cheetahs catch their dinner, they "chomp and chew with delight." But the letter hunt will be secondary for most childrenthe photographs will keep them riveted. Beverly Joubert gives readers an up-close and personal view of each animal, capturing the features that make them unique. A brief glossary helps young readers with some of the more challenging vocabulary: boisterous, rambunctious, vociferous. Backmatter also includes a list of sources for more information and a double-page spread showing each letter of the alphabet, a thumbnail photo of the animal it represents and a brief listing of facts, including habitat, size, food, sounds and how many babies they have at a time.A solid introduction to Africa's faunahappy (letter) hunting.(Informational picture book. 4-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
