"Do you like to dance?" asks the first spread of this playful nonfiction
picture book. "Honeybees do, too!" responds the next. Illustrating the
simple text are joyful drawings that visually connect the children
enjoying a dance party to the honeybees performing their own "dance" in
the hive. A block of more in-depth text fleshes out what the honeybees
are actually doing and why: their waggle dance tells other honeybees
"where to find a tasty meal." Using this same rhythmic
question-and-answer style throughout, the book compares a series of
children's favorite activities to similar things that animals do. From
playing tag and leapfrog (gazelles and cattle egrets) to blowing bubbles
and getting piggyback rides (gray tree frogs and marmosets), there are
seven activities/animals in all. And though the behaviors might look the
same, while the children are playing, the animals are performing
essential tasks such as finding food or caring for their young.
Award-winning author Etta Kaner has created a fun, engaging exploration
of some ways animals behave just like people. By highlighting
connections between human and animal behaviors, she encourages children
to develop compassion for other creatures and to recognize their place
within the natural world. This book would make an excellent resource for
early life science lessons on the characteristics of living things,
especially with the expanded information in the back matter about each
of the animals found in the book. The question-and-answer pattern of the
text together with Marilyn Faucher's inviting, detailed illustrations
work as an entertaining, interactive read-aloud as well.
