Day 151: We're Roaming in the Rainforest

Looking for a fabulous Earth Day book?  Check out the beautifully illustrated and fantastically educational We're Roaming in the Rainforest by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson.  Follow along from sunrise to sunset as parrots squawk, monkeys chatter, sloths doze, caimans snap, and jaguars growl in one of the most magical places on earth:  the Amazon Rainforest!  We've had this book for a few months now, and my son absolutely loves it.  He is obsessed with animals at the moment, so loves learning about some of the exotic creatures that call the Amazon home.  My daughter is always fascinated by the bold, colorful illustrations and can't wait to spot the animals on each page.  Among (many) other things, I love that she and my son are both so engaged while we read it.  (It's not always easy to find books that appeal equally to 4 year olds and 20 month olds!)  We especially love learning about some of the lesser known rainforest animals that are featured in this book, such as pink river dolphins and giant river otters.  Did you know that poison dart frogs are smaller than your thumb nail, or that green iguanas can grow to be six feet long?  I didn't, either, until I read this story.  Like so many of our favorite books, We're Roaming in the Rainforest features all kinds of fabulous educational extras once the story itself has ended.  The endnotes cover a range of topics, including the peoples and native tribes of the Amazon, the role of the rainforest as a vital global resource, conservation efforts, and interesting facts about each of the animals featured in the book.  And, of course, there is a map!  You can see why this book is so great now, right?  It's fun to read, teaches us all kinds of new things, and appeals to kids of all ages.  What's not to love?  If you're looking for a book to read with your child or class this Earth Day, this is one we highly recommend.

Day 103: Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth

We love Eric Carle here in our house, and this book has to be one of my son's favorites at the moment.  He's been fascinated by sloths since seeing them in Marianne Berkes' Over in the Jungle, and this book gives all kinds of interesting information about these peaceful creatures in a forward by Jane Goodall.  Did you know sloths sleep 15 to 19 hours a day and are so inactive that algae grows on their fur?  Can't say that would be my camouflage of choice, but it works for them!  Eric Carle has created another artistic masterpiece, this time full of colorful images and animals from the rain forest.  The sloth's fellow jungle friends wonder about the quiet creature who hangs upside down in the tree all day and night, and begin to ask him questions:  "Why are you so slow?  Why are you so boring?  Why are you so lazy?"  After listening and thinking for a long time, the sloth finally replies in a fabulously articulate fashion.  In what other children's book can you find such fantastic vocabulary words as lackadaisical, unflappable, languid, stoic, impassive, lethargic, placid, and mellow?   I love the educational elements of Carle's stories, and my son loves finding the rain forest creatures on each page.  Be sure to check out the complete list of rain forest animals that appear in the book on the inside back cover, including a peccary, puma, anaconda, caiman, coati, howler monkey, and more!  My son also loves to quote this book:  whenever I ask him to hurry up to do something, he almost inevitably replies (going as slowly as he can), "I'm going sloooowly, like a sloth."  (It's the only time he doesn't move at top speed!)  Carle created this book to celebrate the beauty of the Amazon rain forest, and Goodall's foreward further calls upon readers to help protect and conserve rain forest habitats and species such as the sloth around the world.  Perhaps most importantly, it reminds us of the importance of slowing down to enjoy our world every once in a while.  If your child loves animals or the colorful work of Eric Carle, add this great book to your library list.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!