If Animals Built Your House

October 26, 2020
Paired statements and bite-size facts take readers on an engaging journey through various animal domiciles, explaining their construction and illuminating their distinguishing features: “If a tree squirrel built your house, no one could ever sneak up on you./ Your house might look like just a jumble of leaves, but it’s really a tightly woven, waterproof ball.” Evans’s realistic, gently humorous illustrations, which combine realistic detail with close-up cross-sections, have something of the spirit of the Magic School Bus series. They feature a diverse group of hard-hatted children who shrink down in scale to explore a squirrel drey and a beehive, dive after beavers and red grouper, and snooze in bear dens. The closing spread shows children and animals collaborating to build various human dwellings—including a tipi—and asks, “So, what kind of house would YOU build?” Back matter includes animal photos and enrichment suggestions for caretakers and teachers. Ages 4–8.

November 1, 2020
Wise and Evans explore the many types of houses animals build. Wise creates the fictional Fin & Claw Village to introduce five diverse children (and readers) to animal homes. Wearing hard hats and carrying flashlights, the five crawl through tunnels made by mound termites underneath the tallest structure made by animals. Living in a honeybee colony would be sweet, but the bedrooms are awfully small and hot. Other species introduced include tree squirrels, red groupers, chimpanzees, grey foam-nest tree frogs, satin bowerbirds, polar bears, alligators, pack rats, and beavers. One quick sentence on each spread is followed by a paragraph in a smaller font that gives more information; these focus on keeping kids' attention and are often humorous. Straight facts are presented at the back. A final question asks readers what sort of house they might make; a Literacy Connection section provides teachers with lesson ideas, including a STEAM activity to extend on that question. Backmatter sorts fact from fiction for readers, especially with regard to the illustrations: Homes depicted are child-sized, but their builders are proportionate to the kids, and the habitats are accurately portrayed on the individual spreads, if not in the endpaper map of the village. Small details delight, from the amusing mailboxes to the visual clues pointing to previous and future species. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at 29% of actual size.) Readers will surely pay closer attention on nature walks. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

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November 1, 2020
Grades K-3 Did you ever dream of living in a polar bear cave? A beaver dam? A beehive? This charming picture book allows young readers to get up close and personal with a variety of animal homes. Wise opens each spread with an engaging statement about if a certain animal built your house. For example, ""If mound termites built your house, you'd always have friends to hang out with--two million of them!"" A short paragraph of more standard facts about this animal home follows, extending the book's reach to slightly older readers. Evans' colorful watercolor-style illustrations put an assortment of kids in hard hats and other construction gear right in the middle of the action--and right inside each animal's home! The homes not only look appealing but they clearly show details described in the text. The book's robust back matter makes it suitable for classroom or at-home educational use as well. Readers can gain more information about ""Critter Construction,"" and a ""Literacy Connection"" feature provides suggestions for adult-led activities. A fun, whimsical approach to nonfiction.

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