Rock? Plant? Animal? : how nature keeps us guessing

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Kaner, Etta

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 22 x 24 cm.

Summary:

"Pretty Tricky meets Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate in this guessing-game book that explores how in nature, things aren't always what they seem...sometimes what looks like a plant is actually a rock or what looks like a rock is actually an animal or what looks like an animal is actually a plant. In Rock? Plant? Animal?, young readers are invited to guess what they are looking at as they are introduced to animals that don't look like animals, plants that don't look like plants, and rocks that don't look like rocks! The recto of each spread has a large spot illustration of either a rock, plant, or animal, prompting the reader to make their best guess. There will be surprises but the idea is not to trick readers - anyone who knows children knows that sometimes they want to be right! - so much as invite them to really consider what they are looking at, using what they know already, as well as what they have learned from the basic definitions of a rock, plant, or animal provided in the book's intro. And Brittany's inviting, beautifully realistic illustrations are up for the scrutiny! A page turn reveals the answer by showing the featured plant/rock/animal situated within a detailed scene, as well as a brief description of the rock/plant/animal, including why it looks the way it does. Fourteen "species" are presented. Includes a glossary."--

Subject Term:

Mimicry (Biology) -- Juvenile literature.

Adaptation (Biology) -- Juvenile literature.

Additional Credits:

Lane, Brittany

Audience/Lexile:

Ages 6-9

Grades 2-3

AD 600 L

Publication Info:

Toronto : Owlkids Books, [2022]

Subject:

Mimicry (Biology) -- Juvenile literature.

Adaptation (Biology) -- Juvenile literature.

Resemblance, Protective

Environment

SAILS ISBN:

9781771474443

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Plainville Public Library	J 574.5 KAN	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown
Searching... New Bedford Free Public Library	J 578.4 KAN 2022	CHILDREN NONFICTION	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

An interactive guessing game featuring nature's most unusual adaptations and characteristics

Can you tell the difference between a rock, a plant, and an animal? While it might sound simple, the vast diversity of life on earth can throw us some serious curveballs! Sometimes, what looks like a plant is actually an animal. Other times, what looks like an animal is actually a plant! Even things that look like living creatures can turn out to be unique rocks.

Young readers are encouraged to challenge their pre-existing ideas about the natural world in this engaging nonfiction book set up as a scientific guessing game, filled with lively illustrations and fun facts.

Each spread features a realistic illustration of either a puzzling critter, a perplexing plant, or a special stone. Every picture is accompanied by a simple prompt: rock, plant, or animal? The answer is revealed by turning the page to discover a beautifully detailed scene and a brief description of the "species." Even for the most esteemed naturalists, the answers are hard to believe! Rock? Plant? Animal? lets its readers be detectives, encouraging curiosity and embracing surprise.

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

Appearances can deceive. This natural world guessing game invites readers to categorize specimens (as a rock, animal, or plant) shown out of context on a blank background. The clever use of page turns makes the point that "things aren't always what they seem at first glance." After defining rocks, plants, and animals, Kaner introduces the question-and-answer process. What looks like a pink, spiky, flowering plant is revealed on the following page to be a purple sea urchin, shown in its ocean home. A short paragraph discusses the animal, plant, or rock formation, sometimes explaining where it might be found. Kaner, experienced in introducing science topics to young readers, has chosen 14 interesting examples and anticipates some likely questions. From the reef stonefish to the Satanic leaf-tailed gecko to the desert rose, the plants and animals come from all over the world. Lane, a former wildlife biologist, adds information with her accurate renditions, done in a soft pastel palette. The title would also work as a read-aloud for a small group. The text concludes with a reminder that the lesson not to judge things by appearances applies to people as well and provides a page of relevant words to know. This book will appeal to the young audience who might have enjoyed Tana Hoban's long-out-of-print Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral (1995) but offers considerably more information. (This book was reviewed digitally.) An enjoyable nature puzzle with welcome substance. (Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Readers who like quirky guessing games or weird nature facts will get a kick out of this interactive book. An introduction defines the terms rock, plant, and animal and invites the reader to act as a "nature detective" in the spreads that follow. On each right-hand page, the book features one large lifelike illustration, plus the titular question. When readers turn the page, they will discover the one-word answer to the question; the name of the particular type of rock, plant, or creature; a paragraph of intriguing facts about the pictured subject and its unusual appearance; and a new illustration showing it in the environment where it is typically found. Although photos might have better highlighted the strangeness of the rocks and organisms, the overall effect is charming. The book concludes with a moral: as with rocks, plants, and animals, "you can't tell what a person is like just by the way they look. You need to get to know them."