Very First Things to Know About Monkeys (Very First Things to Know About... Series) - Hardcover

Dawson, John; Albee, Sarah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761111344 ISBN 13: 9780761111344

Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, 1999

Synopsis

Introducing the two latest additions to the American Museum of Natural History's Very First Things to Know About...series: Monkeys and Frogs. Written for four-to-seven-olds and backed by the impeccable authority of the Museum, each title combines the fun of interactive learning with fascinating science, and is embellished with detailed, realistic full-color illustrations, call-outs, and activities that make use of the 25 die-cut, reusable color stickers included with each copy.

Monkeys, like Bears before it, covers the intriguing life of an animal that few children ever see in the wild, but one that has a powerful hold over many a young reader's imagination. It tells how monkeys live, what they eat, their social skills, intelligence, and childcare habits.

About this title

About the Authors

Although officially retired from Victoria University in Wellington, John Dawson continues to study plants in New Zealand and abroad. He received his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, and has written Forest Vines to Snow Tussocks: The Story of New Zealand Plants in addition to many other botanical contributions.

Sarah Albee is co-author of Lunch Box Library: Six Wild Adventures and author of the forthcoming Big Words for Little Scientists.

From the Back Cover

Step Into a Monkey's World

Learn how to tell the difference between a monkey and an ape, and a New World monkey and an Old World monkey. Discover how monkeys communicate with their tales. And help the baby monkeys find the tasty hanging fruit.

Filled with activities and energetic illustrations, here are the 15 most important things to know about monkeys, from Fact #1 - "A monkey is a mammal" - to Fact #15 - "Monkeys need our help to survive."

With Stickers!

From Spider monkey to bananas, bugs to a parrot, each full-color sticker is part of an activity from the book and is reusable for play again and again.

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 1 Two weak entries in the rapidly growing field of nonfiction aimed at young children. Unfortunately, the books' format works against them. On each two-page spread, a basic fact is printed in large type and is followed by a brief explanation and several more related tidbits. Given the broad subjects, the information ends up being general e.g., "Monkeys have different ways of getting from place to place" or "Frogs have long, strong legs." No allowances are made for the inevitable differences among species. This generalization is also apparent in the illustrations. The full-color artwork is adequate, but although various species are shown, none are named an approach that creates more questions than answers. Also problematic are the books' "interactive" elements, which vary greatly in difficulty. Some questions require the use of reusable stickers (included at the back of the books), which creates all manner of circulation nightmares. This game approach might have some appeal, but the information is so minimal that most children will be better served by any of the far superior titles that already exist on these subjects. Arwen Marshall, New York Public Library
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0761111344
• ISBN 13: 9780761111344
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32