Module 4 Book Review -- Informational Book -- ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymor. 2001. ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. NY: SeaStar Books. ISBN 1587170795.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon presents ANIMALS THAT NOBODY LOVES with short narratives placed opposite amazing photographs of the real creatures. He covers animals as large and fierce as the grizzly bear and as small and innocuous as the cockroach.

In each passage he presents factual information about a creature, presents some untrue myth, and then either debunks the myth or tells why a small fact has taken on mythical proportions. For example, when discussing sharks, he says that “some sharks are large and dangerous. Others are just a few feet long and eat small fish.” Later on in the passage Simon admits that though great white sharks usually swim around in the open ocean, some swimmers have been attacked and killed. In a later passage about the Cobra, he says, “In India alone, cobras are reported to kill thousands of people each year, more than sharks all over the world do in fifty years.” Through the uses of such comparisons, one learns the equivalent danger of gila monsters and rattlesnakes and the relative numbers of rats and cockroaches.

While the text may be factual, it is sparse. The true power of Simon’s work is the photographs. Each is clear, striking, and extremely detailed, down to the “hair” on the ant’s head and tail.

REVIEW EXCERPT
Gr. 4-6. The photos (and even the text) won't do much to change the reputation of animals such as the vulture and the rat, but there's no denying they'll draw a crowd and a chorus of "Gross." The pictures are fine, large, and in full color, as fascinating as they are repulsive and scary: the yawning jaws of a shark; a hyena consuming bloody food; a wasp enlarged bigger than a human fist, stinging a grasshopper. Simon puts forward some interesting facts and dispels a few myths about these 20 unlovable subjects, but report writers won't find enough material here, nor are there notes to lead curious kids on to more information. There's no question this will look great on display, but it will serve kids best when it's presented with more fact-rich natural histories. Stephanie Zvirin Copyright © American Library Association. All rights --Booklist

CONNECTIONS
* Select and display other “creature” books
*As Simon suggests on the last page of the book, have students make lists of the animals they “don’t love” and choose one to research.
*Have students create animal mobiles with interesting facts