While I give this a five rating it is more of a 4.5 rating. This is due to the fact that there are a lot of facts about panda, but I would have liked to have seen just a few more. The photographs are amazing and the real draw to the book. Baby Panda Chews Bamboo focuses on the baby panda without a lot of “heavy” facts but does not leave anything out. It even their status on the endangered list (which has improved over the years). The book reads as fiction, though there is not a traditional story going on. The quirkiness of a baby is there, but it is not a fictional version of what a panda is.
While aimed at toddler on up, the really young reader/listener will not be “captured” right away.
The photographs, however, should keep their attention. In the meantime, you and your child can make up a story to go along with the art. Your child, grandchild, niece or nephew will therefore, grow with the story.
Like you do see with the baby panda. You watch it grow from a tiny, rodent looking creature to the black and white giant we know and love. There are some facts we know and others will be new. Ben Richmond and Angelo Soto-Centeno follow this baby right up to bamboo time, but first we see how they learn to swim and climb among other things. For the child who loves animals this is a must have. 