Who Was Here?

October 6, 2014
Actual-size illustrations of animal tracks around the world join rhymes that point to the animals’ identities: “A long-toed jumper in the arid Outback/ hopped through the dry brush and left this track.... Who was here?” While the verse offers so many clues that guessing the animals won’t prove too difficult for many readers, the revelation of the animals on the following pages can still hold some surprises—a combination of huge footprints paired with V-shaped marks in the mud were left by “a hippo and an egret,” while two-toed prints and long curving marks are indicative of a camel and a snake. Posada’s lush watercolor-and-collage illustrations gracefully enhance this guess-the-animal book. Ages 5–9.

August 1, 2014

Gr 1-3-This informational picture book focuses on the footprints of wild animals from all around the world. For each animal, there's a rhyming verse, followed by the refrain "Who was here?" along with a life-size footprint on the appropriate terrain (for instance, a camel footprint is portrayed on desert sand). The next page reveals the animal, as well as additional facts. Some pages portray two (such as a wolf hunting a moose, or a hippo and an egret). A wide variety of animals are covered (a bear, a kangaroo, a beaver, and a jaguar, among others). Children will find these queries challenging but rewarding. Posada's typical collage style is used. Illustrations are detailed in texture and color and will attract readers' attention. A solid combination of facts and poetry. Pick this one up, if budgets allow.-Sandra Welzenbach, Villarreal Elementary School, San Antonio, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014
Even the very young can identify animal tracks when it's made this much fun. Rhyming couplets that give clues to an animal's identity and accompany illustrations of life-size (but admittedly not always realistically spaced) tracks and a few habitat clues encourage children to guess who made the print. "Round footprints left by two-toed feet / pressed into the sand in the desert heat. / This animal lives without water for days, / traveling under scorching sun rays." Snaking (literally) between the prints is a long, S-shaped line. The turn of the page reveals the tracks' makers-"A camel and a snake!"-and a paragraph of information about these animals (dromedary camels and horned vipers) follows. Other featured animals include black bear, gray wolves, moose, kangaroos, hippos, cattle egrets, beavers and a jaguar. Posada's illustrations give great clues, and the answer pages mostly show both close-ups of the animals and at least one full-body image against the animals' habitat. Backmatter encourages readers to use all the clues a track gives to identify the animal: number of toes, whether claws are visible or not, size of the track, how deeply impressed the track is, how far apart they're spaced, etc. Tracks of nonfeatured animals in the background of the page challenge readers. The only thing that's missing is an instructional note about using paper cups and plaster of Paris to cast found tracks. Naturalists will be enthralled. (websites, further reading, answer key) (Informational picture book. 4-9)

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