Okay.
This is a nine banded armadillo.
Did you know that nine-banded armadillos are always born as identical quadruplets?? Four brothers or four sisters. That’s it.
Or that wild turkey brothers live together their whole lives, while their sisters head off to raise their own families?
Or… did you know that an entire litter of newborn European shrews — about 10 — can fit in a teaspoon, and not feel squished??
Sisters and Brothers, by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, is such a cool and fascinating book, it was passed around from person to person to person in our family when I brought it home from the library; and we each, in turn, found ourselves shaking our heads in amazement and reading aloud many highly- curious facts about the animals inside. The book is subtitled: sibling relationships in the animal world. Thus, the common thread for each of the 21 featured animals is the way the sisters and brothers interact with one another from birth until their departure for a new family. Jenkins and Page have compiled some incredibly interesting information, with plenty to astound adults, yet not so much that a youngish child would glaze over with information overload. Just a nice, meaty paragraph for each.
Oh, and then there is the artwork! Paper collage. It is beautiful; striking; colorful; clever; full of texture; and the page layouts are graphically genius. Such a delight to just look at!
Jenkins, at times collaborating with his wife, Robin Page, has created quite a number of books in this genre. His web page is gorgeous! You can see the brilliant display of his books there, and find out more about each of them. I am excited to look for more of these titles in my library. You can also see how he creates his books in a step-by-step slideshow or video. While you may not agree with everything he writes on his site, I think you will love the artistry of his website and enjoy learning more about this very talented artist and his work bringing the wonders of the natural world to children. Take a peek by clicking on the link.
orange marmalade 