Wild Babies

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 1997. WILD BABIES. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060230339

PLOT SUMMARY
This book describes the characteristics of animal babies from various animal groups. In words and text, Simon gives a page of information about lesser known animals: the koala, kangaroo, opossum, raccoon, polar bear, emperor penguin, giraffe, elephant, baboon, dolphin, frog, alligator, and the lynx. It provides readers with basic facts about their birth, growth, their relationship with their mothers (and sometimes fathers), and any unique traits they may have. Among many things, they will learn that frogs never see their babies, the father emperor penguin plays a very important role, and some animals living in herds even have “babysitters.”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Readers, especially younger ones, will be excited to learn all the interesting information in this book. The text is simple enough to understand for early readers and an easy, but still fascinating read for the older ones. The information given about each animal is basic and doesn’t go as deep as in other animal books, however the brevity just might keep readers from getting bored or spark an interest to find out more.

What will captivate readers the most are the beautiful pictures used to support Simon’s text. Each picture is in full color and takes up an entire page. The animal families are each represented in an adorable fashion, even the opossum and baboon look endearing. Emerging readers who are not ready to read the words will still enjoy this book, admiring the pictures of baby animals and those that take care of them. WILD BABIES is definitely representative of the high quality of Simon’s collection of work.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
BOOKLIST: “combines appealing photos with intriguing details of animal life”
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “a beautiful browsing book”
CONNECTIONS
*Read aloud during a lesson/unit on animal mothers and babies or growing up.
*Use this book to highlight various animal habitats and the exotic animals that live there.
*Read aloud to spark an interest in nonfiction among students.

Other animal books by Seymour Simon:
Simon, Seymour. 1991. BIG CATS. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060216468
*Texas Bluebonnet Reading List, 1992-1993

Simon, Seymour. 2000. GORILLAS. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060230363

Simon, Seymour. 1995. SHARKS. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060230290
*Texas Bluebonnet Honor Book, 1997

Simon, Seymour. 1992. SNAKES. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060225300
*Texas Bluebonnet Reading List, 1994 -1995

Simon, Seymour. 1993. WOLVES. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060225343