The author did a pretty good job on structuring the book in such a way that was very informational, but at the same time interesting. It is true that there were some long paragraphs but they weren’t as long or overwhelming as they appeared. Bishop used a big size font which made it seem like there was a lot to read but as soon as you start reading you realize it is not that bad. I really loved how he bolded some sentences in a different color within informational paragraphs. By doing this, I felt like I was taking that particular information with me. For instance, one of the sentences reads, “Strawberry dart poison frogs are probably the hardest-working parents of all”. The sentence itself was able to captivate my curiosity and pushed me to find out why this was so. As I kept reading, I realized that they are the hardest-working parents because they take care of their children for a longer period of time and thus are forced to do more for them.
Focusing on the pictures, I really enjoyed them and I think children will too. The whole concept of animal-informational books seem to attract boys more often than girls but I think this book as the potential to attract both. The author does a pretty good job on including pictures that are very detailed and interesting, which is why I think it can attract both genders. I am a girl and I was very fascinated by the photographs and interesting facts so I strongly feel that other girls will like it too.
I personally think this is a good book to get children interested in science without letting them know that is the goal. As a future educator, I think I can use this book and similar books to introduce or even teach science lessons. I remember being in grammar school and dissecting a frog. Many of us did not know anything about frogs and our science books weren’t very interesting. I think that if my teacher would have added this at the beginning of the lesson we would have been more interested and curious to find the particular parts that the book discussed about frogs.
Overall, I really think this is an exceptional book to have in our classrooms and expose children to. It is a very neat way to get them interested in informational books. This book in particular, attracts its readers through its vivid photographs and well structured informational paragraphs. The details presented are also quite fascinating which is why I think children will be interested in reading it. I still can’t believe all the information I learned about frogs! I personally do not like frogs nor am I fascinated by them but after reading this book I was so impressed by all of their features. I can’t get over the fact that they breathe 50% of their oxygen through their skin, their hearts can stop working all-together, some can leap 6 feet, and that the lovely colorful ones can be poisonous. I would really recommend this book to anyone or should I say everyone! :)
