By Tracey Stewart
illustrated by Lisel Ashlock
If you are an animal lover and want to encourage and support children in their development of love for animals, this is an especially good book for children in the middle elementary years. Tracey divides the book into three sections: Animals at Home; Backyard Wildlife; and Falling in Love on the Farm, and she uses catchy titles for sub-sections, such as The Perfect Pig Palace; Be Nice to the Bugs, or Meow-sage Me.
Tracey has a nice sense of humor coupled with lots of good information about animal behavior, ways humans can better the lives of animals, and crafts such as a “t-shirt tug toy” for dogs or ideas for enhancing a cat’s home by planting cat grass.
The illustrations are very realistic drawings with color rather than cartoons or photographs. They are very pleasant depictions of the animals the author is spotlighting. The illustrations make you want to love any and all of the animals in this book and more. It is a good resource for home or school.
Tomorrow’s Child / November 2016 / p 32
