Cats from Head to Tail

November 1, 2016

PreS-Gr 1-Short, declarative sentences with simple vocabulary cover basic facts about popular animals: "Hamsters are very soft. They have fur. They are different colors. They have very small tails." Dogs identifies different breeds, along with other, more general statements ("Some dogs have big ears."). A few fact bites suffer from a lack of context. For example, in Turtles, the only information offered about the necks of turtles is that some are long. While the brevity may not add much subject knowledge, the level of content and vocabulary will aid beginning readers. So will the clear, full-page photographs that accompany each page of text, free of labels, captions, or text boxes. For kids with an interest in these appealing animals, the highly readable text and cute pictures may lead to a successful reading experience.

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