Animal School: What Class Are You?

Gr 1–3—A picture book with various poems about different classes of animals. Through rhyming couplets, Lord starts off with an overview of vertebrates ("Elephants to pygmy wrasses,/Vertebrates are grouped by classes,/Vertebrates have/spines like you,/mammals,/fish and/reptiles too") before including two or three poems that briefly sketch the behavior or physical characteristics of selected members of each class ("From heads to backs/to tips of tails,/iguanas are encased in scales"). For example, children will learn that mammals drink their mother's milk, are born alive, and mostly walk on legs. The title concludes with a reminder that vertebrates encompass a variety of creatures ("Salamander,/cockatoo,/rattlesnake,/and kangaroo,/barracuda,/people too"), followed by a two-page chart of the five classes that lists characteristics, cites a few species, and notes one example of an exception for each species. For instance, the section on amphibians states that "The axolotl breathes through gills, and remains a tadpole, living all its life in water." Though Lord's poetry is simplistic, it will appeal to children. Garland's broad sketches in mostly brown, green, and blue tones are suggestive rather than realistic, providing homely views of familiar animals, some in skeletal form. Flecked liberally with beige or white dots and crosshatching, the artwork was rendered in digi-woodcut, but these images look more like crude prints. Readers will pick up the basics on animal classification, and the back matter identifies more extended sources of information. A serviceable start to the concept.—Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston