Animal Diaries: Life Cycles

Have you ever heard the buzzes and clicks of the cicadas on a hot summer night? As part of the Animal Diaries: Life Cycles series, your students will get an up–close and personal look into the life cycle of a periodical cicada. Written as a science diary, A Periodical Cicada’s Life truly brings cicadas to life on every page. The detailed photographs and interesting facts will capture the interest of all your students. This book is arranged as a diary, with each page describing a different period of time in the cicada’s life cycle. These diary entries are observations made by the main character Sophia as she walks in the forest with her father. Observations include the nymph stage, color changes as an adult, cicada songs and swarms, laying eggs, and eventual nymph stage once again. Included with the diary entries are detailed photographs, bolded vocabulary words defined in a picture glossary, fun facts, and discussion questions. After finishing the diary, the book also has a “Science Lab” where students are asked to write their own diary about the periodical cicada, along with question prompts. For educators, there is a companion website that provides links to more information and a crossword puzzle that can be downloaded or played online. A Periodical Cicada’s Life is a great addition to any lesson about life cycles since it is one that is often overlooked. It could even serve as a lesson on insects or habitats. However used, this book is sure capture your students’ attention, even if it is an “eww gross!”

This engaging new animal series offers young readers large, bold, engaging photographs while providing information about the stages of life. Each book begins with an introduction and picture of the child and featured animal he or she is investigating. Simply written entries transcend the life cycle of such creatures as the slithering California mountain king snake. Read about how long it takes for a snake to hatch from an egg, and what precautions the mother takes to ensure its young’s survival. Detailed, vividly colored photographs enhance the reader’s experience as questions and other fascinating facts engage readers to investigate further. Primary and elementary students will have these books flying off the shelves as they read to learn. Bibliographical references and an index with scientific terms are provided in each book. Recommended.

These easy-to-read books discuss the stages of development, dietary habits, and habitat of the [featured animal]. Bright, close-up photographs and kid-friendly text, presented as observations in a child’s notebook, make the information accessible. Text boxes with questions and facts encourage further insight and thinking. Related activities are included in the “Science Lab” section.

Written in a science journal format, this information picture book will pique young children’s interest about butterflies. Sam keeps track of each butterfly he sees and chronicles what they are doing. Full-page photographs accompany the journal entries along with text boxes, small illustrations and labels. One day Sam finds over 50 monarch butterfly eggs under the leaves of milkweed plants. The supplementary text box states that female monarchs lay about 400 eggs. In addition, the book includes a table of contents, index, more information about butterflies, science vocabulary and a science lab. This is the perfect text to share during a science unit on butterflies or to have available for silent reading. Children will enjoy viewing and reading this book to learn more about our world.

[Starred review]. Animal Diaries: Life Cycles is a marvelous series of children’s books designed for the child who is sitting quietly at the pond or the one chasing the butterfly or asking where do frogs come from? This review is based on the following titles: A Spider’s Life, A Frog’s Life, A Kangaroo’s Life, A Snake’s Life, and A Butterfly’s Life. All are written at an elementary level using the best learning theory to develop a story for the young inquiring mind. Each book takes an animal from egg laying or pregnancy to adulthood. The life cycle of each animal is shown with superb illustrations. For example, a picture of the actual size of a butterfly egg is shown or a series of how legs develop in pollywogs from the hind limbs to the front limbs with superb photographs. Each life cycle is filled with questions for the reader about the animal and its characteristics. For example, the adult kangaroo hops 28 feet at a time. The reader is asked to measure out some string for the person’s height. Then lay out the string counting how many times it takes to make 28 feet. Can you hop that far in one hop? The series is filled with questions designed to clarify and intrigue the young reader. Each life cycle includes an illustrated list of the science words used that are clearly explained. Each life cycle has a “Science Lab” section that deals with intriguing questions about each animal. There is also a “Read More” section directing the reader to additional material as well as an “On Line” section. This series is highly recommended and will be a useful science supplement for the elementary classroom, school library and children’s section of the public library.

Part of the Animal Diaries: Life Cycles series, this book chronicles the mysterious and colorful sequence of a butterfly’s maturation. Formatted as a series of late-summer diary entries written by an inquisitive young boy, the book describes events from two butterflies mating in his backyard through their fall migration south and eventual return the following summer. Photographs combine with kid-friendly maps and illustrations to display migration patterns and metamorphosis in a vibrant manner. The text, though written from the point of view of a child, is insightful and straightforward while still maintaining an age-appropriate reading level. Also included is a science lab that explains the process of growing butterfly-friendly plants like verbena and milkweed in window pots and transplanting them outdoors to provide food and nectar to growing insects. A list of science terms is explained through an illustrated glossary. This book explains a complicated process in a factual, understandable, and attractive style.

With an unusual format but conventional content, these volumes are framed as animal-observation journals from children. Several clear, bright color photos enhance each spread. Beginning with calls, egg sightings, or other indirect signs of a mating season in progress (“Today I saw two red kangaroos having a fight!”), each “notebook” tracks a typical animal’s course from birth and growth to maturity…Thought-exercise questions and study suggestions are scattered throughout the volumes, which all end with a relevant small-scale activity.

Journals and notebooks are an integral part of the educational journey today. Recording information quantitatively as well as qualitatively preserves the event on paper for future reference. In the Animal Diaries series, Ellen Lawrence models scientific record-keeping through the eyes of a child scientist. The activities of butterflies, frogs, spiders, snakes, and kangaroos are observed and investigative questions are suggested throughout the text. Each double page spread features a dated journal entry typical of an observant student’s journal, opposite full page photographs of the animal and its habitat. An inset photo of the young journalist on the first spread makes the book’s premise even more personal and appealing.