Animal architects /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This fascinating nonfiction picture book about animal construction projects will captivate young scientists and naturalists--and have them looking for more in their own backyards!

Did you know the natural world is a construction zone? All over Earth, on land and at sea, animals are building the most amazing things. From tricky trapdoors to undersea cities to palaces of pebbles and more, come see the incredible creations of animal architects.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Inviting readers to view the natural world as a "construction zone," Cherrix (In the Shadow of the Moon) looks at animals, insects, and invertebrates that build unusual dwelling places. Ants, bees, and termites construct ingenious hives in these pages; an alert-looking harvest mouse uses grass to weave a nest suspended between reeds; a bowerbird festoons its bower to attract a mate. Each highlighted species receives two spreads with text that provides plenty of chewy factoids (a beaver "can gnaw through a tall tree in just three minutes!"). Levels of detail vary, however: text about the Great Barrier Reef mentions that "tiny larvae have been building" it, but not how, while pages on the trapdoor spider detail its hunting mechanism: when an insect steps on strands that "fan out from the burrow... the burrow vibrates like a silent doorbell." Similarly, layered art by Sasaki (Sakamoto's Swim Club) focuses on visual impact and natural beauty, sometimes over architectural process (a finished beaver dam is pictured in stylized forms that may be difficult for young readers to scan, while an ant colony and prairie dog town provide more granular detail). A bibliography points to resources with more information. Ages 3--8. Author's agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator's agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Sept.)■

School Library Journal Review

PreS-Gr 1--We live in a construction zone! That's what Cherrix tells readers in this look at the structures built by 11 different animals. Tiny larvae build the Great Barrier Reef; trapdoor spiders build insect traps to collect meals; male satin bowerbirds build elaborate sculptures out of twigs, called bowers, to attract a mate; ants dig complex tunnels; penguins build nests out of pebbles. All around us, animals are busy building homes, nests, tunnels, mounds, and more. Sasaki's lush, digital artwork is resplendent, with swift-moving strokes that produce lively movement on the page. Cherrix's prose is peppered with facts that describe what readers are seeing, while also evoking awe of the complex, often beautiful, structures, and just how talented these architects of the animal world are. Children will enjoy meeting new animals and learning their behaviors. Back matter includes further reading to keep young naturalists intrigued. VERDICT An appealing choice for story times.--Jessica Schriver, Rutgers Univ., Camden, NJ

Horn Book Review

"Did you know the natural world is a construction zone? Whether they are large or small, in the ocean or on land, animals are amazing architects!" Cherrix (In the Shadow of the Moon, rev. 3/21) explores a number of structures that animals build for shelter, for defense, or to obtain food. Coral reefs, nests of twigs and stones, spider webs, and underground homes for ants and prairie dogs are some of the structures described in short paragraph-and-illustration sequences that unfold across four-page sections. The first pages of each section show in-progress construction of the structure; then the final product is revealed through a sentence split across the page-turn ("As the burrow expands, it becomes... / ...a [prairie] dog town"). Sasaki's (Home Is a Window, rev. 3/19; Paper Son, rev. 11/19) thoughtful illustrations use a variety of perspectives to follow the animals as they gather materials or dig above- and underground, and to allow viewers to look up, down, and through the creatures' creations to see how they're used. Some of the structures, such as nests, are built by solo animals for their personal use; others are constructed by social groups for the benefit of the collective. Many structures also benefit other species in their respective ecosystems, such as the coral reef, which provides shelter for multitudes of ocean dwellers, and the beaver dam, which produces a "brand-new pond that every animal in the forest will enjoy." A list of selected sources is appended. Danielle J. Ford September/October 2021 p.113(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Book Review

A look at the unique ways that 11 globe-spanning animal species construct their homes. Each creature garners two double-page spreads, which Cherrix enlivens with compelling and at-times jaw-dropping facts. The trapdoor spider constructs a hidden burrow door from spider silk. Sticky threads, fanning from the entrance, vibrate "like a silent doorbell" when walked upon by unwitting insect prey. Prairie dogs expertly dig communal burrows with designated chambers for "sleeping, eating, and pooping." The largest recorded "town" occupied "25,000 miles and housed as many as 400 million prairie dogs!" Female ants are "industrious insects" who can remove more than a ton of dirt from their colony in a year. Cathedral termites use dirt and saliva to construct solar-cooled towers 30 feet high. Sasaki's lively pictures borrow stylistically from the animal compendiums of mid-20th-century children's lit; endpapers and display type elegantly suggest the blues of cyanotypes and architectural blueprints. Jarringly, the lead spread cheerfully extols the prowess of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, "the world's largest living structure," while ignoring its accelerating, human-abetted destruction. Calamitously, the honeybee hive is incorrectly depicted as a paper-wasps' nest, and the text falsely states that chewed beeswax "hardens into glue to shape the hive." (This book was reviewed digitally.) An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

A former children's book editor and book buyer at Malaprop's Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, North Carolina, Amy Cherrix now writes fulltime. Her books include the nonfiction In the Shadow of the Moon , Backyard Bears , Eye of the Storm , Animal Architects , and Animal Superpowers . She earned a master's degree in children's literature from Simmons University. If she isn't writing or scouring the internet for late-breaking science news, you can find her on Instagram @AmyCherrix.

Chris Sasaki is an animation art director, illustrator, and writer living in Oakland, California. He worked at Pixar Animation Studios and designed characters for Monsters University , Inside Out , Coco , and Onward . His work has been featured in Nucleus Gallery, Cartoon Brew , The New York Times , and Red Cap greeting cards. Chris is the illustrator of Animal Architects , Home Is a Window , and Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist , which received the 2019 Dilys Evans Founders Award from the Society of Illustrators.