Animal Planet’s Animal Atlas

Nonfiction Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Animal Atlas
Published May 24th, 2016 by Animal Planet

Goodreads Summary: Animal Planet’s definitive atlas of animal life takes readers on a continent-by-continent and habitat-by-habitat passport to adventure!

What is a habitat? How is the North Pole’s animal life different from the South Pole’s? How and why do animals adapt to their environment? Is a food web different from a food chain? Animal Planet Animal Atlas answers all of these questions and many more. Through detailed maps, fun infographics, simple charts, and Find It! Fact boxes readers can track their favorite animals across the globe, learning about how animal habitats are affected by climate, food and water availability, migration, and human environmental impact.

Kellee’s Review: Nonfiction informational texts are really stepping up their game! Over the last few months, we’ve been sharing a lot of Animal Planet and National Geographic texts, but it is because they are worth sharing! This text is filled with such a wealth of information. First and foremost, I see it as a beautiful atlas. It focuses on not only the different continents and oceans, but it teaches about the biomes within the world also. Within each biome in each continent, animals who lie and thrive are shared along with interesting information about the animals. Some of my favorite parts though are the “Animal Close Up” sections which focus on one animal, where it lives, why it lives there, and what it eats and the animal travel guides who pop up within each continent and give out tidbits of information. This plethora of information combined with breathtaking photographs allows this book to take you on a journey all around the world!

Ricki’s Review: I loved this book. My toddler and I probably spent 45 minutes reading it, and we didn’t even read all of the facts! There is so much information in this book, and it is all incredibly fascinating. I think we are going to enjoy this text for a long time yet! My favorite part about it was the way the book was divided up by continent and then further by biomes. My son and I were able to talk about the similarities between the animals and insects within biomes and why that might be. When we reached each new continent, we flipped back to the big atlas to talk about where that continent was in comparison to our home. I also loved the sections that compared the animals to humans. It was neat to talk about our similarities and differences. I’d highly recommend this text for any child of any age. I think it would appeal to all ages and interest levels!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This is such a beautiful text that begs to be used cross curricularly. In Florida, 6th grade learns about life science and one of the unites focuses on habitats and biomes. This book would be an asset either in the science classroom or in an ELA classroom supporting the science standards. Also, in late elementary school this text would be a perfect way to combine science, social studies, reading, and writing.

Discussion Questions: Which biome is the hardest for animals to live in?; Which continent has the least amount of animals?; What are the differences between the different biomes?; Which animal/habitat/continent would you like to learn more about?

We Flagged: 

Read This If You Loved: National Geographic titles such as Awesome 8 or National Parks USA Guide, Animal Planets Animal Bites series, Seymour Simon’s animal books or Extreme Oceans

Recommended For: 

and