Amazing Animal Friendships: Odd Couples in Nature

by Pavla Hanackova, Linh Dao (Illustrator)

Overview

Discover some of nature’s most unlikely—but valuable—friendships!
Sometimes two are better than one—that’s a matter of fact, even when the pairing seems very odd! From sharks and cleaner fish, to zebras and birds, to plants and their pollinators, strange friendships in nature exist everywhere. With bite-sized text and quirky illustrations, this fascinating book introduces children to the weird and wonderful symbiotic relationships between animal species.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781912006489
Publisher:	Salariya
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	245,865
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	IG940L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Pavla Hanackova is a writer who specializes in children’s nonfiction.

Linh Dao is a freelance illustrator and animator.

Editorial Reviews

10/01/2017
Gr 2–4—Friendship is everywhere in the animal kingdom, though it is often called "symbiosis." Hanackova describes peculiar duos who form a two-way mutually beneficial friendship. Readers will learn that creatures such as rhinos, zebras, hippos, giraffes, and buffalo rely on the little oxpecker to get rid of irritating insects and lice in their fur. Kids will also discover that hippos can safely transport turtles and herons on their backs and that they use fish as dentists to clean their teeth. Ants make fabulous babysitters to aphid eggs, hermit crabs share their shells with anemones in exchange for protection, bees and plants aid with pollination, shrimp clean the teeth of larger fish, and good fungi help tree roots and plants while receiving nutrients from their green counterparts. The cartoonlike digitally produced illustrations complement a narrative that is not only informational but also light and humorous. Although the author focuses on animals that assist one another, she also refers to more destructive creatures, such as leeches and parasites. VERDICT This adorable volume will be a great addition to any collection where animal books are in high demand.—Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

2017-07-02
Some readers might be familiar with birds that remove troublesome insects from large animals' hides and maybe with wrasses and other animals that remove parasites from larger fish, but most will not have been exposed to the range of species and complexity of interactions that are described in this innocent-seeming picture book. Each double-page spread consists of an introduction and brief paragraphs and illustrations arranged across the pages, Dorling Kindersley-style. The light-colored, humorous watercolor sketches of animals in their habitats have joke headings and speech balloons, and there are some funny sketches such as a hippo that gives a ride to a turtle and a heron. But the text of some of the spreads seems far too sophisticated for the age group for which the illustrations are apparently intended. A spread on bees and plants uses higher-level vocabulary—"Diligent pollinators" reads one heading—and kids reading this would certainly need an adult on hand to explain concepts and words. The approach seems problematic; nerdy kids with a real interest in interspecies interaction may find the illustrations too low-level to be engaging, and kids who enjoy the artwork may well not be able to understand the text. It almost feels like a high school chapter on symbiosis masquerading as a children's picture book. Neither fish nor fowl….(Informational picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews