How Do Living Things Find Food? (Introducing Living Things). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3258-7 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3234-1 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Animals-Food-Juvenile literature. Photosynthesis-Juvenile literature. Food chains (Ecology)-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-2 / Ages 6-7. Review by Gail Hamilton. **½ /4

	What Kind of Living Thing Is It? (Introducing Living Things). Bobbie Kalman. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 24 pp., pbk. & hc., $7.95 (pbk.), $18.36 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-3259-4 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-3235-8 (RLB.). Subject Headings: Organisms-Juvenile literature. Life (Biology)-Juvenile literature. Grades 1-2 / Ages 6-7. Review by Gail Hamilton. **½ /4

excerpt:

Animals that eat other animals are called carnivores. “Carnivore” means “meat eater.” Most carnivores are predators. Predators hunt the animals they eat. The animals that predators hunt are called prey.

Cats, such as lions, tigers, and leopards, are big carnivores. They have sharp teeth called canines for grabbing their prey. The ridges on the roof of a cat’s mouth help hold its prey. (From How Do Living Things Find Food?)

These titles are the latest additions to the (now) 10-volume “Introducing Living Things” series designed for young readers. Each book is comprised of 10 chapters, a table of contents and a section called “words to know and index.” Only some of the words printed in boldface type in the text appear in this section, but all of the boldface words are defined within the main body of the text. (This begs the question, why have the “words to know” section at all?) A single paragraph appears on each page. Sentences are rather short and clipped and use plenty of repetition to help young readers to become familiar with the vocabulary. The author also poses questions to make readers review what they have read and to examine the illustrations for clues to the answers. Illustrations are bright and colourful and consist mainly of photographs, but there are a few diagrams as well.

    How Do Living Things Find Food? is somewhat of a misnomer as far as titles go. There is very basic information about the various groups of animals- herbivores (both grazers and browsers), carnivores, insectivores, and omnivores- as well as what they eat. The food chain and the role that scavengers play in nature are also covered. Finally, the food that humans eat is traced from its origins on the farm to the supermarket, but this information is very sketchy. Generally, the book explains what the different animal groups eat but does not really describe how the animals find food (which is implied by the title). The author could have discussed scent, colour and markings of flowers to attract pollinators, stalking, ambushing and various other techniques used to find food.

      What Kind of Living Thing Is It? begins with a list of commonalities of all living things- their need for air, food, water and sunshine, their ability to grow, move and change, and their ability to reproduce. The animal kingdom is then divided into vertebrates and invertebrates, with a special section for arthropods, those invertebrates which have legs that can bend. Other chapters are devoted to the main animal groups- reptiles, amphibians, fish, birds, mammals- as well as to plants. The final chapter examines other types of living things that do not fall into the previously discussed categories, some examples being fungi, bacteria, worms, coral and mollusks.

      Basically, these titles are just “average” and, though they might have a place in the classroom or school library, there are better books available on the topics they cover.