NSTA Recommends - David Tumbarello
Heinemann-Raintree adds to its Read Me book collection with a series that investigates common, but often uncovered, close-to-home habitats. The Horrible Habitats series includes seven primary grade–level books that explore sewers and gutters, rotten logs and forest floors, streets and alleys, caves and crevices, marshes and pools, garbage cans and landfills, and the compost heap. Students of all ages will be intrigued and pleasantly disgusted by the 30 or more pages of text and illustrations about each habitat. In Streets and Alleys, readers will discover page after page of images and descriptions of squirrels, rats, stray cats, and various scavengers. Each book contains topics that span one or two pages, with highlighted key words and captioned color photography. Many sections contain "Fun Facts" that complement the text with a vivid fact about the habitat dweller and may cause a roar in the classroom. For instance, students will learn that giant leeches can be as long as your arm, female seagulls vomit food into the beaks of their baby chicks, and scorpions have little claws that come out of their mouths to pull at their prey. The "Fun Facts" are sure to provoke a chorus of "ooh’s and ahh’s" from young students. – David Tumbarello, Fourth grade teacher <i>NSTA Recommends</i> 2/16/2011
February 16, 2011Library Media Connection - Suzanne Libra
While not good reading material during mealtime, these books will have high interest appeal. If you want to know what goes on in your compost pile or sewer, these books will tell you in some detail. Each book in the series opens with a "What is a habitat?" two-page spread. Although the text is almost identical in each book, the illustrations are different. After the introductory spread, the books go into the specifics of each habitat, discussing the animals, insects, and microbes that exist in the different environments. Each two-page spread has illustrations, captions, text, and often sidebars. Each book also includes a hands-on activity, glossary, further reading list, and website links. Although these books are short, they pack in a lot of useful scientific information in a student-friendly format. My second grader browsed them, and my middle school students read them. This would be a good set to have in the room during a unit on habitats or adaptation. Recommended.–Suzanne Libra, Teacher Librarian, Silver Hills Middle School, Westminster, Colorado [Editor’s Note: Also available in paperback.]<i>Library Media Connection</i> May/June 2010
November 22, 2011Norfolk Public Schools - D. Leon
This is a tour of streets and alleys, really disgusting habitats home to weird and gross creatures. Students will definitely be attracted to colorful photographs of real-life grossness! Great close-ups of yuck, like hairballs, roaches, and road kill being cleaned up "naturally". Awesome book! Very readable, enjoyable, and includes index, glossary, further reads, and internet sites. – D. Leon, Sherwood Forest Elementary <i>Norfolk Public Schools</i>1/8/2011
January 8, 2011Science Scope (NSTA) - David Tumbarello
Heinemann-Raintree’s Horrible Habitats series includes seven primary grade-level books that explore sewers and gutters, rotten logs and forest floors, streets and alleys, caves and crevices, marshes and pools, garbage cans and landfills, and the compost heap. Students of all ages will be intrigued and pleasantly disgusted by the 30 or more pages of text and illustrations about each habitat. In Streets and Alleys, readers will discover page after page of images and descriptions of squirrels, rats, stray cats, and various scavengers. Each book contains topics that span one or two pages, with high-lighted key words and captioned color photography. Many sections contain "Fun Facts" that complement the text with a vivid fact about the habitat dweller and may cause a roar in the classroom. For instance, students will learn that giant leeches can be as long as your arm, female seagulls vomit food into the beaks of their baby chicks, and scorpions have little claws that come out of their mouths to pull at their prey. Each book ends with four sections: an activity related to the habitat, a glossary, a bibliography entitled "Find Out More" that can be used for enrichment, and a child-friendly index. The bibliography lists websites that can be used for enrichment. Teachers should use this as an opportunity to discuss with students the difference between peer-reviewed scholarship and websites created for entertainment. With informative text, highlighted key words, vivid illustrations, Fun Facts, activities, glossaries, bibliographies, and indexes, this series provides the structure of informative text books students will encounter in upper grades and beyond. –David Tumbarello <i>Science Scope (NSTA)</i> April/May 2011
November 22, 2011
