Cat

Cat by Matthew Van Fleet, photos by Brian Stanton

This big board book has a lot of pictures of cats doing cat things. The pictures look nice. the book however, fell apart and is making it to the recycling bin.

The Secret Life of Squirrels

The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose

A squirrel named Mr. Peanuts does a bunch of human-like things shown in photographs in this picture book. It has a cute basic story. We got it from a little free library, but it was a school library sticker on it. Hmmm...

Owls in the Family

Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat

A family in Saskatoon adopts some baby owls. These owls think of themselves more as humans than owls and take a long time to realize that they can fly. There are many funny events that ensure. In one case, Crows and Ducks think they can outnumber the little owl and come to cause ruckus. (This is brought to an end with a gun.) The family eventually must move and they end up finding a new home for the owls. The book is similar to other animal and friendship stories, but owls are fairly unique as bets.

The Wonky Donkey

The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith, illustrated by Katz Cowley

There is an official song that goes with wonky donkey, but I liked making up my own version. The chorus and the hehaws can be a lot of fun. After listening to the real version, I think my version was better. In the chorus, it keeps adding additional descriptors for the donkey that have fun sounds.

Giraffes Can't Dance

Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees

Giraffe can't dance. All the other animals can seem to do fancy dances, but not giraffe. Then he finally gets inspired talking to cricket and dances up a storm. It has some fun animal dancing humor.

Ranger Rick: I Wish I Was a Polar Bear

Ranger Rick: I Wish I Was a Polar Bear (I Can Read Level 1) by Jennifer Bové

How do polar bears live. How is their life different from our life? Polar bears tend to live a very isolated life in the cold north. This book has plenty of photographs showing the life of polar bears and their life, all from the perspective of a kid wishing they were a polar bear. 

Adventures of Buster Bear

The Adventures of Buster Bear by Thornton W. Burgess illustrated by Harrison Cady, adapted by Thea Kliros

Buster Bear and other animals have some adventures with each other. They are at the same time anthropomorphic and real animals.

Magic Tree House: Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

Magic Tree House Monday with a Mad Genius and Dark Day in the Deep Sea

The kids help Leonardo da Vinci fly and retain his faith in his work. In the second book, they save an Octopus that saved them. That magic wand comes in handy. This historical fiction approach feels a bit too sanitized, but works for kids.

The Brave Little Turtle

The Brave Little Turtle by Gill McBarnet

Two turtles swim around in Hawaii. One hot shot turtle seems to be "brave", while the other seems more shy. The hot shot turtle goes swimming all over the place and gets some plastic stuck around his neck. He thinks it will just fall off, but it doesn't. Many other animals try without success. Finally the other turtle helps the brave turtle to go to the beach to get humans to take it off. They are at first scared because this problem came from humans. They finally go up and do get it off. The other turtle is the "brave" one who did things smartly and was willing to go help solve the problem. The book is a little long, but fairly good.

Barn Storm

Barn Storm by Charles Ghigna and Debra Ghigna, illustrated by Diane Greenseid (Illustrator)

A big storm causes havoc on the farm, moving animals all over the place. After the storm is over, the animals are all in the wrong place. There is not much story, but there is some funny juxtaposition of animals and inappropriate places. 

Five Tumbling Tigers (Noisy Counting Books)

Five Tumbling Tigers (Noisy Counting Books) by Catepillar Books, illustrated by Debbie Tarbett

The book text is credited to "Catepillar books" and it includes an electronic device. That should be a big enough warning. The book tells the story of 5 tigers that play a game where the disappear then reappear. The text almost has a rhythm but then breaks it for its gimmick. With a dead battery, this is pointless.

Giraffes (Amazing Animals)

Giraffes (Amazing Animals) by Valerie Bodden

Giraffes are tall and weigh as much as a small car. They get much of their water from their food. The book is a sort, illustrated introduction to the animals. It provides just enough depth in a short space to keep it interesting.

The Little Penguin

The Little Penguin by A. J. Wood, illustrated by Stephanie Boey

An emperor penguin watches a baby. Then the baby gets separated and worries that he is losing his feathers. Discussions with other animals makes him feel worse. Finally he finds his parents and jumps in the water and realizes he has better feathers now. The book has too much text and doesn't interest kids.

Animal Homes

Animal Homes (National Geographic Kids Readers, Pre-Reader) by Shira Evans

Animals live in different homes. This book shows some of the different types of homes they live in. It has very simple text that is appropriate for beginning readers.

Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys

Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys by H.A. Rey

Cecily G is a bored giraffe who wants somebody to play with. Then she runs across 9 monkeys. At first she helps them by being a bridge across a chasm. Then they become playfriends. Most of the games at first involve Cecily enabling the monkeys. One cringeworthy one has the monkeys tie Cecily's neck to a tree so they can ski down. (I can just the giraffe suffocate.) In one humorous one, Cecily hangs her skin out to dry after getting wet. There is some interesting humour in this book. George is just one of the monkeys and doesn't really stand out. However, this was the first book that he appears.

The Little Duck

The Little Duck by Judy Dunn

A boy finds a duck egg. The duck hatches, then grows up. After some adventure, the duck goes off to the pond and finds a girl duck and they have their own egg. The book has great pictures. The story is just enough to show more pictures.

Barnyard Dance!

Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton

The animals do a barnyard dance. It is a type of called-out square dance with different animals in each role. It is not very memorable. 

From Egg to Chicken

From Egg to Chicken by Dr. Gerald Legg, illustrated by Carolyn Scrace, designed by David Salariya

The book shows the lifecycle of chickens with illustrations showing the various states. It has a decent amount of detail, but is fairly short.

The Underwater Alphabet Book

The Underwater Alphabet Book (Jerry Pallotta's Alphabet Books) by Jerry Pallotta (Author), Edgar Stewart (Illustrator)

This book is fairly text-dense, with descriptions of a fish and other sea creatures for each letter of the alphabet. There are even some with multiple creatures for the same letter. It can be read quickly by just reading the names. The text is not bad, there is just too much. The choices are also fairly obscure.

The Grouchy Ladybug

The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle

A ladybug in a bad mood gets in a fight with another ladybug. However, the grouchy ladybug says the other is not big enough to fight. The grouchy ladybug then picks a fight with bigger and bigger animals, culminating in an attempt to pick a fight with a whale. The whale flicks the bug back home. There the ladybug decides it is better to be at peace.

For the animals, the pages and the font size get bigger and bigger as the animals get bigger. The book is creatively designed, even if the story is a little bit drawn out.