Eye by Eye: Comparing How Animals See

K-Gr 3–An appealing offering of “what if?” questions, laugh-out-loud illustrations, and clearly presented information details how different animals see. The book begins by posing questions (“Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the world through someone else’s eyes?” “What if those eyes belonged to an animal?”) and providing context for comparing animal eyes (“Most animals have eyes, but not all eyes are the same.”). The text offers surprising, informative answers. The question, “What kind of animal would you be if you had eight eyes?” is accompanied by an illustration of a tan-skinned child with eight eyes. When readers turn the page, they learn that the answer is “a spider!” and that some spiders can have as many as 12 eyes. Brown-skinned children, including a girl wearing hijab, are pictured throughout. Levine describes the eyes of sea stars, snails, slugs, flounders, and owls and how the pupils of different animals (such as goats, cats, and cuttlefish) differ in terms of their shape. She also explains that not all eyeballs are smooth and that some animals see colors differently than humans do. The book ends with thought-provoking activities.