Run for Your Life!

November 9, 2015
The creators of Swamp Chomp (2014) focus on animals indigenous to another ecosystem while offering a similar mix of staccato text and fluid art. After a hushed opening spread (“On the savanna, animals sleep”), the creatures leap to life. Schaefer deploys a wealth of fun-to-repeat verbs, which hint at the animals’ comparative speeds: “Hyenas bolt, and wildebeests gallop. Wild dogs rush, and zebras stampede.” Though unmentioned in the story itself, the predator-prey relationship is apparent (an eagle swoops at a rabbit, which hops away; an ostrich scurries from a leaping cheetah), building to an encounter with two lions, menacingly perched on a rock: “Run... for your life!” Schaefer writes as the animals scatter. Meisel punctuates the dusty savanna grasses with dollops of brightness, including the vivid oranges of monkey fur and the setting sun. Speed freaks will glom on to the final spread, which provides a brief overview of the “chase-and-flee scenes” common to the savanna and compares the animals’ average sprint speeds. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. Illustrator’s agent: Jennifer Mattson, Andrea Brown Literary Agency.

December 15, 2015
Following Swamp Chomp (2014), Schaefer and Meisel explore animals in motion on the African savanna. Schaefer begins by sketching the relationship between predators and their prey. "They chase their prey across the plains, sometimes catching their next meal, sometimes not. It's a real-life game of hide-and-seek." After a nighttime scene of sleeping prey animals eyed by a lioness, the action shifts to day, as "leopards spring, / and impalas bound. // Eagles swoop, / and hares hop. // Crocodiles lunge, / and hippos trot." At times, the staccato couplets stray from their predator-prey focus: "Snakes slither, / and elephants lumber." The narrative shifts again, to the animals' collective movement: "Across the savanna, / they scamper and skitter, / past termites / and aardvarks, / near watering holes / and rhinos." The text oversimplifies the savanna's complex food chain, making no attempt to further distinguish the depicted animals as omnivores, herbivores, scavengers, or decomposers. Meisel's mixed-media pictures clearly capture distinguishing features of the animals amid grasslands dotted with acacia trees. However, there's visual elision, too, as several spreads--including a climactic encounter with lions and a final slumber scene--depict the animals as a cohesive group, with just one or two individuals per species. A few facts, and a list of the 24 mentioned animals with their average sprint speeds, are appended without references. More whimsy than fact here--but by that measure, an agreeable-enough romp. (Picture book. 3-6)

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February 1, 2016

K-Gr 2-It is night on the African savanna, and all the animals are sleeping peacefully, preparing for another day of hunting or being hunted. As the day progresses, a wide variety of beasts hop, slither, dash, scurry, swoop, and flee across the pages to the right. And then, as evening begins to descend, all the animals encounter the ultimate of African predators, the fearsome lions, and it is a mad dash to the left across the pages as they run for their lives. Through simple sentence structure, Schaefer highlights the action, with the verbs taking center stage and providing lots of opportunity for fun, interactive vocabulary lessons ("Jackals pounce, and giraffes lope. Hyenas bolt, and wildebeests gallop."). The watercolor and acrylic artwork is full of movement and humor, as creatures leap across the page or hide in the background, their eyes always on their enemy. A brief introduction sets the stage, and some notes at the end share sprint speeds of all the animals depicted. VERDICT A great resource for classrooms and libraries that serve the youngest elementary students.-Jody Kopple, Shady Hill School, Cambridge, MA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Grades K-2 On the African savanna there are predators, there are prey, and everyone runs from the mighty lions. Diverse animals are spotlighted on two-page spreads, from the well known, such as leopards and zebras, to the lesser known, such as caracals and impalas. The language is simple, often just a few words describing the animal at hand moving through its environment. Meisel's watercolor-and-acrylic illustrations depict each animal in warm, natural tones, revealing enough detail that the animals are recognizable but abstracting them enough that they are pleasantly cartoonish. While the narrative occasionally faltersthe lines don't quite scan as poetry, they are spare enough that they don't tell a full story about the food chain on the savanna, and an illustration of all the animals sleeping peacefully in close proximity is a bit confusing after scenes of predators chasing preysteadfast animal-lovers will likely enjoy this visually pleasing and gentle introduction to the food chain. The volume closes with some concise information on how fast various animals can move.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)