Lita Judge is at it again with Play in the Wild: How Baby Animals Like to Have Fun (In the Wild). They show us how adorable baby animals do adorable things in the wild. Each animal is given a small paragraph or two showing how play helps them grow. And how play will help them survive when they are older.
Sweet illustrations that are not overly bold, but not muted either, run about the page letting us know how each critter jumps and plays and pounces and chases. Alternating pages give you a quick toddler-like story (Pounce, leap, chase and slide young animals like to play) followed by an older paragraph of information about an animal (or animals) that does that act. You see how some ask before playing, how they apologize and other acts that human children might recognize. At the end, there is even more information about the animals presented, along with a glossary and websites to visit. They range from Ranger Rick to National Geographic.
You can tell that Judge has a naturalist background and uses that to help kids (and adults) to become interested in animals, nature, and the protection of thereof as well. The author has a love for the subject and wishes to pass that along. And they do this with other books in the In the Wild series (Homes in the Wild and Born in the Wild to name two) as well as books about bird and their songs, dinosaurs and their sizes and flying penguins (they also do fiction stories).
All ages can grow with this picture book.
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