Anti-Freeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations

Description

Age range 6 to 9 A fascinating nonfiction picture book about how fish adapt to their various underwater environments! When might a fancy leaf costume be useful for a fish? And how do fish in Antarctica keep from freezing? In Antifreeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations, children ages 5 to 8 discover some of the amazing adaptations in the world of fish! Explore underwater habitats and discover the ways fish have evolved to avoid the danger that lurks around every waving piece of seaweed. Detailed illustrations, layered text, a hands-on activity, and plentiful back matter spur kids to dive further into the remarkable adaptations of fish. A free verse poem at the beginning of the book offers a language-based entry into science details. Perfect as a read aloud or early reader for kids who are curious about science! Antifreeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations is part of a set of five books in the Picture Book Science series that explore strange-but-true tales of adaptation. Other titles in this series include Stink Fights, Earwax, and Other Marvelous Mammal Adaptations; Spit Nests, Puke Power, and Other Brilliant Bird Adaptations; Water-Walking, Sidewinding, and Other Remarkable Reptile Adaptations; and Sunscreen, Frogsicles, and Other Amazing Amphibian Adaptations.

Laura Perdew is an author, writing consultant, and former middle school teacher. She has written more than 20 books for the education market on a wide range of subjects, including wetlands conservation, the history of toilets, pirates, and extinction. Her book Biodiversity: Explore the Diversity of Life on Earth (Nomad Press, 2019) earned a Booklist starred review and was a Junior Library Guild selection. Laura is a long-time member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, an avid runner and hiker, and an environmentalist. She lives and plays in Boulder, Colorado. Katie Mazeika is an illustrator with a focus in children's publishing. She loves creating illustrations with a strong narrative that are filled with color and texture. Katie is the illustrator of the Picture Book Biography series from Nomad Press. Katie is a member of the SCBWI.

School Library Journal K-Gr 3-Fish have adapted to live in many different bodies of water. This colorful nonfiction book offers several interesting facts about various species of fish, including the African lungfish, hammerhead sharks, mudskippers, and manta rays. Their adaptations are fascinating; the Antarctic blackfin ice fish produces a chemical similar to antifreeze to stop its blood from freezing. Back matter includes a glossary, additional facts, and instructions on how to create a fish adaptations picture book. The beginning of the book features a poem. Mazeika's cute illustrations will appeal to younger audiences. Different fonts and colors are utilized throughout the text to emphasize important facts about the spotlighted fish. Children who are curious about the natural world will find this book highly engaging. VERDICT An inviting addition to the children's nonfiction section. Everyone needs more cool fact books, and this title is a part of a science-centered series. Green Teacher Magazine There comes a time as an adult when you can pick up some children's books and enjoy learning something NEW! The two books Antifreeze, Leaf Costumes, and Other Fabulous Fish Adaptations and Stink Fights, Earwax, and Other Marvelous Mammal Adaptations both taught me something! (I did not know, for example, that Blackspot Tuskfish use tools to get their meals or that whales have earwax that actually helps them hear.) The author, Laura Perdew, does a wonderful job keeping the facts about adaptations simple but still scientific. The illustrator, Katie Mazeika, does a fabulous job of providing big, bright colors to help get the message across. I also appreciated the glossary and "Activity Time" pages in the back of the book that help reinforce the topics that were covered. Archimedes Notebook Fun New Series on Animal Adaptations Let's face it: animals are cool! And most kids I know love to read about animals. What's even better than a book about animals is a whole series of books about strange and wonderful animal adaptations. Laura Perdew has written a whole bunch of books - well, at least five - about animals and their unique adaptations. They are fun and breezy, and a perfect way to introduce young children to the different classes of vertebrate animals: reptiles, birds, mammals, amphibians, and fish. Perdew introduces readers to unsung heroes of the animal world: star-nose moles, blue-footed boobies, and thorny devil lizards. She sings the praises of salamander slime and whale earwax. In addition to highlighting animals and their adaptations, Perdew begins each book with a poem. There's an acrostic, a limerick, haiku, cinquain, and free verse. Back matter for each book includes a glossary and activity that helps kids (and anyone else) learn more about the group of animals. Booklist Series Nonfiction Showcase Through layered, mischievous illustrations and detailed back matter, the Picture Book Science series plies young readers with a ton of useful facts about how all sorts of animals have evolved to survive in their environments. Antifreeze includes fish that use suction cups to climb rocks (the Hawaiian goby) and fish that can breathe air (the lungfish, of course!). . . Each book contains a hands-on activity that will get kids involved; the mammal volume even points out that human beings are mammals, too, and encourages students to consider their own place in their ecosystems. Classroom-friendly and fun, too. Praise for Biodiversity by Laura Perdew Booklist Starred Review April 1, 2019 Nomad applies its dependable activity-book format to the new Build It Environmental Science series (4 titles). Here biodiversity is placed under the microscope--sometimes literally--in a text that makes daunting concepts, such as evolution, levels of biodiversity (genetic, species, or ecosystem), and why biodiversity matters, easy to understand without sacrificing scientific precision. By book's end, readers will truly understand what biodiversity is, its importance to the health of the planet, and humans' impact on the complex natural systems where it thrives. Praise for Extinction by Laura Perdew National Science Teachers Association Recommends "This book uses the concept of extinction to teach a little chemistry, a little climatology, paleontology, biology (biodiversity), ecology, and a lot of geology. The science information is historical and current, drawing on three-dimensional learning, incorporating science practices to determine what factors affect extinction in general and specifically. The integration of concepts help bring the science alive and relevant." Praise for other books in the Picture Book Science series Forces Booklist Starred Review March 15, 2018 "Forces, despite its down-to-earth scientific grounding, manages to do the nearly impossible. Diehn brings gravity, magnetism, push-pull forces, and friction to life in everyday contexts, without a hint of schoolroom jargon. Children, parents, and teachers alike can enjoy learning the charming, often funny, relatable, and accessible science within this Picture Book Science series (4 titles) offering."