About Mollusks: A Guide for Children

by Cathryn Sill, John Sill (Illustrator)

Overview

Cathryn and John Sill explore slimy snails, clams, and more in their award-winning beginner's guide to mollusks, a volume from the acclaimed About... series created by author and educator Cathryn Sill.

The book uses simple, easy-to-understand language to teach children what mollusks are, how they look, how they move, what they eat, and where they live.

The beautifully detailed, realistic paintings of noted wildlife illustrator John Sill introduce readers to a variety of mollusks—from the small garden snail to the giant Pacific octopus. An afterword provides more details about the animals in the book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561454068
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/04/2008
Series:	About. . . , #9
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.99(w) x 8.53(h) x 0.18(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Cathryn Sill, a graduate of Western Carolina University, was an elementary school teacher for thirty years. She is the author of more than twenty-five prize-winning nonfiction picture books about animals and habitats. She has created three nature series especially for pre-K and kindergarten students. She lives in North Carolina.

John Sill holds a BS in wildlife biology from North Carolina State University. Combining his knowledge of wildlife and artistic skill, John has achieved an impressive reputation as a wildlife artist and received many awards. He has illustrated more than twenty-five books in the About... and About Habitats series. He lives in North Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

"This handsome look at a cast of lowly characters is a rewarding slice of the biodiversity pie." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2-This attractive title consists mainly of large, realistic watercolors, each accompanied by a sentence or two of simply written text. It concludes with a sort of field guide with extra data on the featured creatures. (A single carp-the Hopkins' Rose is not identified as a sea slug until the afterword.) Less detailed than Beth Blaxland's busy Mollusks: Snails, Clams, and Their Relatives (Chelsea House, 2003), and simpler than Joy Richardson's Mollusks (Watts, 1993), this handsome look at a cast of lowly characters is a rewarding slice of the biodiversity pie.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The latest in the About . . . series casts the spotlight on an often-overlooked group-the mollusks. This beginner's guide teaches readers in small, digestible bits, giving one to two sentences of facts per page in simple language. Sill presents the basic facts-mollusks have soft bodies with no bones and grow from eggs-but she also makes the diversity of the group apparent. Some have shells, some are shell-less; some live on land, most in the water; some are predators, while some eat vegetation. The author's afterword is a wonderful resource, showing a thumbnail of each illustration, fleshing out the fact given on the page, and giving more information about the featured mollusk. Don't skip this-it gives some of the work's most interesting facts. For instance, "Common Violet Snails blow bubbles that harden and make a raft." They can then ride the raft on the ocean surface and find food. Vibrant watercolor illustrations vividly portray the colors and textures of the animals and their habitats and are a good mix of commonly known and unusual mollusks. A good beginning text about this unique group. (bibliography, Web sites) (Nonfiction. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews