I See a Kookaburra!: Discovering Animal Habitats Around the World

by Steve Jenkins, Steve Jenkins (Illustrator), Robin Page

Overview

I See a Kookaburra! lets readers search for an oystercatcher, an elephant shrew, and a fierce snapping turtle in the places where they live. Learn how these animals and many others grow and thrive in very different environments.

Incorporated into the book is an interactive element. Hidden in the illustrations are animals camouflaged in their surroundings. Turn the page to see if you were able to find them all!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547348810
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	AD690L (what's this?)
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Steve Jenkins wrote and illustrated many nonfiction picture books for young readers, including the Caldecott Honor Book What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? His books have been called stunning, eye-popping, inventive, gorgeous, masterful, extraordinary, playful, irresistible, compelling, engaging, accessible, glorious, and informative.

Robin Page has worked on numerous bestselling and award-winning titles with her husband and collaborator, Steve Jenkins, including Caldecott Honor Book What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? She lives in Boulder, Colorado.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The texture- and color-rich cut-paper collages, displaying each animal in a characteristic pose, feature several layers of depth, providing young viewers with the potential for hours of exploration.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred

"The lush cut-paper illustrations invite detailed scrutiny of the various animals' features and display the textures and variety of skin, fur, beaks, and the like."—Horn Book Horn Book

"A first-rate foray into ecology that will encourage readers to explore the world around them." –School Library Journal School Library Journal

"Jenkins masterfully manipulates texture and space, playing up the unique palette and architecture of each habitat, while pushing readers towards an aesthetic awareness of the remarkable shapes and patterns that compose nature's wonders. . . . Another keeper from this talented team."—Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly

"The book’s bright colors and textures and its playful design will attract an enthusiastic audience."—Booklist Booklist, ALA

Editorial Reviews

The husband-and-wife team behind What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? presents another intimate look at the natural world, here surveying six animal in glorious habitats: desert, tide pool, jungle, savanna, forest and pond. Author and artist introduce each environment in pairs of spreads, first asking readers to peer into a full-bleed landscape in which they can spot animals partially concealed by holes, greenery and other features (hence, the "I See" in the title, a refrain for each environment). The companion spread, strips away all the extraneous detail, revealing the inhabitants, silhouetted against a white background. A structure resembling a pine cone, for instance, which pops out from a rock outcropping in the first desert spread is actually the end of a fat, coiled diamondback rattlesnake in all its venomous glory; skinny toes wrapped around a branch in the jungle turns out to belong to a comical red-eyed tree frog. Jenkins masterfully manipulates texture and space, playing up the unique palette and architecture of each habitat, while pushing readers towards an aesthetic awareness of the remarkable shapes and patterns that compose nature's wonders. Straightforward language in small type identifies the environments ("This desert is in the American Southwest"), and vivid, economical descriptions of the critters follow on the companion spreads, completing the phrase "I see..."("an angry diamondback rattlesnake buzzing a warning," for instance). Lengthier notes on all the environments and inhabitants conclude this informative and attractive volume, yet another keeper from this talented team. Ages 4-8. (May) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 4-This colorful introduction to six different biomes mixes clearly presented information with seek-and-find fun. The book opens with a glorious two-page collage made of cut and torn paper that depicts a desert in the American Southwest. Eight indigenous animals are included in the picture, but readers will have to search hard to find them as they are mostly camouflaged by cacti and rocks. On the next spread, the creatures are shown against a white backdrop; each one remains in the same position on the page, allowing youngsters to refer back and find the ones they missed. Each animal is introduced by name and given a brief yet tantalizing descriptive line. The same pattern is repeated for a tide pool on the English coast, a rain forest in the Amazon River basin, the grasslands of central Africa, an Australian forest, and a pond in the American Midwest. As an added challenge, and to make the point that ants live all over the world, one of these insects is hidden in each scene. Additional, well-chosen facts about these habitats and the depicted creatures are appended, along with an outline map of the locales. Filled with vibrant colors and palpable textures, the illustrations are breathtaking and give a real sense of the vitality, diversity, and beauty of nature. A first-rate foray into ecology that will encourage readers to explore the world around them.-Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

"The texture- and color-rich cut-paper collages, displaying each animal in a characteristic pose, feature several layers of depth, providing young viewers with the potential for hours of exploration.
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred

"The lush cut-paper illustrations invite detailed scrutiny of the various animals' features and display the textures and variety of skin, fur, beaks, and the like." —Horn Book Horn Book

"A first-rate foray into ecology that will encourage readers to explore the world around them." –School Library Journal School Library Journal

"Jenkins masterfully manipulates texture and space, playing up the unique palette and architecture of each habitat, while pushing readers towards an aesthetic awareness of the remarkable shapes and patterns that compose nature's wonders. . . . Another keeper from this talented team." — Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly

"The book’s bright colors and textures and its playful design will attract an enthusiastic audience." —Booklist Booklist, ALA —

From the Publisher