Lots of Spots

June 28, 2010
Ehlert returns to the territory of her
Oodles of Animals (2008) with another illustrated collection of animal-inspired rhymes. The title is a bit of a misnomer, as not all the creatures within have spots; rather, the book focuses on how spots, stripes, and other markings either distinguish or camouflage various bugs, birds, and beasts. Befitting that agenda, Ehlert's mixed-media collages tend more toward the true animal hues found in nature than some of her previous books. The layers of handmade paper—brightly colored and often richly textured—that form each critter, crisply arranged on a white background, lend a sense of up-close immediacy. The very brief verses vacillate between silly ("If a woodpecker would peck/ holes in a wood deck,/ the whole deck, I suspect,/ would be holey-wrecked.") and matter-of-fact ("One barn owl can catch/ more mice and rats/ than a whole family/ of mouser cats."), but all the ditties offer some information about an animal's coloring or behavior. Budding naturalists and animal lovers of a broad range will surely be amused. Ages 3–7.

June 15, 2010

Ehlert focuses her collage talents on creatures that sport spots or stripes. She starts out with fish, moves on to amphibians, wanders over to birds and ends with mammals (except for the stray butterfly or lizard that pops up in unexpected places). Each featured critter is glossed by a verse, such as "Turtle swimming— / spots are revealed. / Turtle sunning— / spots are concealed." The rhyme varies in import (and ease), revealing how the markings give an advantage, simply observing or sharing an interesting fact about the animal, as in this rhyme about the spotted owl: "Unless there's a girl owl / and he's in pursuit, / a boy owl generally / won't give a hoot." The facts will be appreciated by animal lovers and science fans alike, and the eye-catching, colorful, textured images provide plenty of visual interest. As always, the author-illustrator presents a piece full of life and creative energy, but this thematic mélange of approaches lacks cohesion, resulting in a book that's just not as solid as some of her previous hits. (Picture book. 2-5)

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August 1, 2010

K-Gr 2-In keeping with her traditional bold, collage illustrations, Ehlert portrays an array of animals with spots and stripes. Each one is described in a catchy, four-line rhyme. The subjects include a wood duck, an iguana, a turtle, a goose, a goat, a Dalmatian, and a cow, among others. Lots of Spots would make a good addition to an author/illustrator unit on Ehlert's work, but its stand-alone value as a poetry or animal book falls short of remarkable.-Lindsay Persohn, Crystal Lake Elementary, Lakeland, FL

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2010
Preschool-G From chameleons to eels, chickadees to macaws, and badgers to butterflies, each of the 50 featured creatures in Ehlerts latest offering sports distinctive markings, from stripes and rings to the plenty of spots mentioned in the title. Each spread features a beautiful collage illustration of an animal, accompanied by a poem of four short, catchy lines. Some of the verse is relatively generic: A giraffes neck / is so tall / that it towers / over all. Still, each selection includes a basic zoology concept: A moths / flight / awaits / moonlight. More consistent is the appealing art, which makes amazing use of color, shape, and texture on clean, white double-page spreads. This is most successful as a vibrant, general book about animals for the very young rather than as a primer on camouflage, but a short authors note does add more scientific facts about the menageries markings. Children will enjoy paging through and identifying the multitude of brilliantly hued animals that make up this visual zoo.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)