As this informational picture book by award-winning author Etta Kaner
begins, sportscasters Walrus and Cockatoo are setting the stage:
"Welcome to the World Animal Games --- that's WAG for short. Top
athletes from habitats around the world will be competing for the gold!
Exciting, isn't it, Cockatoo?" Along with some comic relief, the pair
then provide the play-by-play for the seven sporting events covered in
the book. With a total of twenty-eight animals competing, each event,
from high jump to weight lifting and swimming, pits a different group of
four against one another. Readers are given "stats" for each competitor
and are invited to guess who will win. Then they turn the page and find
out who won and, importantly, why. They also learn how the winner
compares, proportionally, to the best human achievement in that skill.
Besides the funny, wisecracking banter between Walrus and Cockatoo,
further entertainment is provided in the lively illustrations by David
Anderson, as well as in the silly puns. For example, a chicken calls
out, "Foul play!" while a goat exclaims, "You've got to be kidding!"
This book will be hugely appealing to those children who love to learn
facts about the strongest, highest and fastest. In the classroom, it's a
perfect introduction to science lessons on living things and their
characteristics, with the interactive guessing element a great way to
keep children engaged. It also works as a read-aloud during major
sporting events such as the Olympics.
