Animal Zombies!
I took this nonfiction children’s book into a third-grade classroom I was subbing in yesterday and the students pounced on me, like they were hungry wolves. I loved it! You should have seen their eyes and electricity filled the air as I started to share the pages with them. It was pure joy.
It was actually funny as I shared this book with them because the students kept creeping closer and closer to me as they “supposedly” sat on the floor. They were bouncing around as I flipped through some pages, all the while, they were screaming, “Read that page!” “What was that?” “Was that a garden spider?” “Hey, I saw one of those things in real life!” “Flip that page back!” I was smiling and trying to calm these little bug people down.
They seriously loved this book and wanted me to leave it with them but it was a library book that I had checkout. I knew after seeing the cover that I needed to read it. After seeing their reaction and reading it, I might need to purchase a copy for other rooms I sub in.
The pictures inside this book are fantastic. As with all National Geographic books I have found, these pictures are bright, colorful and realistic. I could actually see some of the fine pieces of individual hair on some of the insects and the detail on the ceratioid anglerfish was cool and creepy! Seeing all the fine detail inside this fish’s body as she lit up at night was amazing! Then, the mass of tentacles on the giant jellyfish- remarkable!
There are tons of facts inside this book. I cannot tell you how many times I said, ‘wow!” as I read this book. I learned a lot and the students learned just a little because I didn’t have time to share with them everything I found fascinating for we spent a great deal of time, just looking at the pictures. I did tell them about the frilled shark. This shark’s picture was incredible and the facts about this creepy, green-eyed serpent got the students real excited. The student’s learned about the ghost octopus, the glass frog, and the peacock mantis shrimp. There is a ton of information in this book, from exotic creatures to ticks to foot fungus.
It’s a fun and entertaining book and one that I highly recommend.
4
 - Chana Stiefel)