It's Moving Day!

June 1, 2008
PreS-Gr 2-This story creatively shows that even animals recyclein this case, it is a burrow under a tree that, from season to season, becomes home to a variety of different woodland creatures. After a woodchuck moves out, a mother rabbit raises her babies there. She is followed by a salamander that hibernates in it, a raccoon and her brood, and milk snakes that coil in a knot in it. Later chipmunks live there, followed by a skunk family. Finally, readers are brought full circle as a plump woodchuck uses it for his winter shelter. Simple factual information is woven into the text and in the illustrations. It includes the season the animal uses the burrow, or what it is lined with, or what the animal eats, or the number of young in a litter, or predators from which they hide. The book concludes with a short paragraph about each of the featured species. Valério's acrylic illustrations are colorfully impressionistic rather than realistically detailed. Each depiction of "moving day" is action-filled. Young children will enjoy this appealing beginning fact book."Elaine Lesh Morgan, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2008
Hidden beneath a big tree is a snug burrow, where a woodchuck awakens from his winter sleep. After he moves out, a rabbit moves in and the burrow becomes a home for her newborn kits. When she and her family scatter to look for winter homes, a salamander arrives. And so it goes through the seasons, as raccoons, snakes, chipmunks, and skunks move in and out of the burrow. Finally a woodchuck cleans it out, climbs in, and sleeps for six months, until its moving day again. The text creates a pleasant, if undeniably repetitive, narrative of the chain of events. Livelierare the acrylic paintings, which showcasethe distinctiveshapes and colors of the animals and provide interesting details. Readers will be struck by how many animals can make a burrow a home in this attractive addition to the young nonfiction shelves.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)