Polar Bears and Penguins: A Compare and Contrast Book - Hardcover

Katharine Hall

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1628552093 ISBN 13: 9781628552096

Publisher: Arbordale Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

Outstanding Science Trade Book
ILA Children's and Young Adult Primary Nonfiction Award
Polar bears and penguins may like cold weather but they live at opposite ends of the Earth. What do these animals have in common and how are they different? You might see them near each other at a zoo but they would never be found in the same habitats in the wild. Compare and contrast these polar animals through stunning photographs.

About this title

About the Author:

Katharine Hall has spent her entire life surrounded by books. As an avid reader from a very early age, she has always wanted to become a writer herself. Polar Bears and Penguins: A Compare and Contrast Book is Katharine's debut picture book. She is currently working on a second book about clouds that will be the second in the Compare and Contrast series. Katharine and her husband live in California with their dog, Tonks, and two mischievous cats.

From School Library Journal:

Gr 1–4—Time for some circumpolar knowledge! Here, Hall highlights the similarities and differences between two of the most popular ice-dwelling creatures. She starts off by tackling a common erroneous assumption, explaining that the animals live on the opposite poles of the planet. Hall also compares fur to feathers, cubs to chicks, solitary to group living, and other concepts. Children will enjoy the sharp, full-color photographs of the animals and their habitats, and many pages are full bleed, which allows readers to scan for interesting details of the ecosystem. This book would be excellent for sharing with large or small groups. However, it is marred by a few weaknesses. A discussion of how the animals live on opposite ends of the globe includes tiny, superimposed maps that are so small that readers won't be able to decipher the miniscule script, which features important words such as "Arctic" and "Antarctic." Even more egregious is the poorly photoshopped image of a polar bear sitting on an ice floe while the lights of the aurora borealis shine behind it. The photo has been clumsily composed, and the sky, stars, aurora, ice floes and water reflections look completely artificial, thus undermining this work's authoritativeness. The book ends with a mishmash of back matter that provides further material about both animals, true/false questions, and a life-cycle calendar. Though this book is serviceable, its flaws greatly reduce its usefulness.—Denise Schmidt, San Francisco Public Library

About this edition

• Publisher: Arbordale Publishing
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1628552093
• ISBN 13: 9781628552096
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32