Can We Be Friends: Nature's Partners (Nature's Treasures) - Softcover

Wright, Alexandra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0881068594 ISBN 13: 9780881068597

Publisher: Charlesbridge, 1994

Synopsis

Many creatures have learned how to take care of each other in a partnership called symbiosis. Once again Alexandra Wright and Marshall Peck (Will We Miss Them? Endangered Species and At Home in the Tide Pool) team up to bring young readers a unique perspective on symbiotic relationships.

About this title

About the Author

Alexandra Wright became an author at the age of 11 with WILL WE MISS THEM? ENDANGERED SPECIES, which was chosen as a Reading Rainbow Selection. Her second book, AT HOME IN THE TIDE POOL, was published when she was 13. CAN WE BE FRIENDS? NATURE'S PARTNERS, Alexandra's third book, was written when she was in high school.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3?Each spread of this colorfully illustrated book depicts a set of animal partners that somehow rely upon one another, from the rhino with its familiar red-billed oxpecker to some pairs that might surprise young readers. Ants treat aphids like their own milk cows, a shearwater bird shares housekeeping with a tuatara, an Egyptian plover serves as a crocodile's "toothbrush," and certain fish are said to work as "doctors" for other fish. Generally, four or five lines of text describe each symbiotic relationship as an appealing friendship. The format and style are identical to that of the author's Will We Miss Them? (Charlesbridge, 1991). The placement of type around the subjects is sometimes awkward and often difficult to read. The information is sprinkled with cutesy interjections and exclamation points, and only one of the three aspects of true symbiosis is offered: to say that animals "help each other the way friends do" is a gross oversimplification of a scientific term that happens to encompass parasitism as well. The book ends on a simplistic, didactic note by posing the question, "Now that you have seen the ways that animals have learned to be friends, don't you think that we [humans] can, too?" Side by Side (Putnam, 1988, o.p.) is a better title for this audience, and includes excellent photos and a balanced treatment of the topic.?Valerie Lennox, Jacksonville Public Library, FL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Charlesbridge
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0881068594
• ISBN 13: 9780881068597
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 32