CM Magazine: Animals in Motion: How Animals Swim, Jump, Slither and Glide.

________________ CM . . . . Volume VII Number 8 . . . . December 15, 2000

Animals in Motion: How Animals Swim, Jump, Slither and Glide.

Pamela Hickman. Illustrated by Pat Stephens.
Toronto, ON: Kids Can Press, 2000.
40 pp., pbk. & cl., $6.95 (pbk.), $14.95 (cl.).
ISBN 1-55074-575-1 (pbk.), ISBN 1-55074-573-5 (cl.).

Subject Heading:
Animal locomotion-Juvenile literature.

Grades 2 - 6 / Ages 7 - 11.

Review by Liz Greenaway.

*** /4

excerpt:

People sometimes put on special equipment to help them move around better. In these pages you'll discover animals with their own built-in flippers, diving goggles, snowshoes and cleats. There are activities and experiments to help you compare your speed and jumping ability to that of other animals. Discover some fancy animal feet and then check to see if any of them have visited your neighborhood recently. You'll get a close-up look at some unusual animals, meet a fish that flies and a frog that climbs trees, and much more!

Animals in Motion is a fascinating introductory look at how animals are specially designed for motion in their own environment. As has been demonstrated in her previous works, such as Wetlands and the Night Book, Pamela Hickman is very adept at presenting nature in a manner that will capture the interest of young readers. For example, readers learn that a puffin's short wings are specially designed for flying and swimming and that the kangaroo rat can jump up to 48 times its own body length in one leap while travelling in a zigzag pattern to escape predators. The book is crammed with interesting facts about very different creatures. The only criticism I have of the content is that the few activities and experiments seem simple and perhaps too young for the intended age level of the readers.
Pat Stephens illustrations are spectacular and give a picture book quality to the book, especially the full page spreads of creatures such as tree frogs, snails and cheetahs. Such is the beautiful detail and luminous quality of her illustrations that the animals all but jump off the page. Overall, the book is an excellent introduction to animals. Its companions in the series are Animal Defenses: How Animals Protect Themselves (written by Etta Kaner) and Animal Senses: How Animals See, Hear, Taste, Smell and Feel.

Recommended.

Liz Greenaway is a former bookseller now living in Edmonton, AB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - December 15, 2000.