Wild Babies by Seymour Simon

Bibliography
Simon, Seymour. 1997. Wild Babies. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0060230339.

Plot Summary
Since many children have opportunities to see kittens and puppies in action, Seymour Simon decides he would explore the animals that children are not as familiar with. In Wild Babies, Simon gathers pictures and information on 13 different animal babies found in the wild. Each entry provides a picture of the animal along with basic information like location, size, diet, and parenting techniques. Simon's writing and presentation is very simple and understandable for young readers. Children will love it.

Critical Analysis
Wild Babies is an adorable look at 13 different animal babies and how their parents relate to them after birth. The book is very well organized. The author opens the book with a small introduction describing some of the information found in it and then takes us through each one. Each entry has a picture of the animal and a description of their home, size at birth and adult, diet, and how long they live with their mother or if they do. For example, Simon explains how the after the female frog lays her eggs that she has very little to do with them.

The author also grouped the wild babies together by like qualities making it very easy to follow and understand. For example koalas, kangaroos, and opossums are grouped together because how their babies live in the mother's pouches after birth. Children will fall in love with the pictures and devour the interesting tidbits included in Wild Babies.

Reviews
School Library Journal: "The full-color photographs are striking and generous, and most often portray the youngster with its mother. The accompanying page of information is written in a simple but lively manner to pique the interest of young readers. The book has a logical flow as animals from similar environments follow one another, and both the text and the photographs provide some glimpses of the diverse habitats in which these creatures live."

Children's Literature: "Young children always enjoy looking at pictures of baby animals so these photographs by Seymour Simon are sure to fascinate them."

Connections
*Have children pick one of the animals listed in the book and create a reproduction of its habitat.
*Create a bulletin board display the animal facts listed in the book. Also have the children do additional research to be included on the bulletin board.