The Secret Life of the Sloth

by Laurence Pringle, Kate Garchinsky (Illustrator)

Overview

A year in the life of a sloth is revealed in this stunningly illustrated nonfiction picture book, the latest in the popular The Secret Life series.

Meet Perezoso, a brown-throated three-fingered sloth who lives in a rainforest habitat. Young readers will be fascinated as they learn all about her life — how she searches for food, keeps herself safe from prey, and gives birth to a baby. Gorgeous realistic illustrations celebrate these intriguing creatures, and the story is filled with important facts and terms. The back matter at the conclusion of the book provides more in-depth information, a glossary, and further resources.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635923094
Publisher:	Astra Publishing House
Publication date:	04/20/2021
Series:	The Secret Life
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.44(w) x 9.31(h) x 0.38(d)
Lexile:	640L (what's this?)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Laurence Pringle has written more than one hundred books for children and teenagers. Internationally, his books have sold more than three million copies.

Kate Garchinsky received her BFA in Illustration from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with a focus in nature and children's literature. Visit penguinart.com.

Editorial Reviews

"Like other volumes in the Secret Life series, this book offers an engaging narrative that spotlights the daily life of an individual animal while including information that applies broadly to others of the species. Created with soft pastels, aqua crayons, and walnut ink, the beautifully textured, richly atmospheric illustrations capture events and reinforce information presented in the text. A fascinating introduction to the sloth." — Booklist

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

From the Publisher

2021-07-30
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. (glossary, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews