Here are two very different takes on animals, both aimed at young children. Let’s give them a look!
First, a real-life story:
Teaching Tornero: The True Story of a Sloth Superstar by Georgeanne Irvine of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Animals in captivity have a tough time, and it is a small miracle when they manage to breed. Perhaps they feel safe enough, so this is why everyone at the San Diego Zoo was thrilled when Tornero the two-toed sloth was born.
Immediately, they set up for him to be a wildlife ambassador a.k.a comfortable about humans staring at him. Wildlife ambassadors have a special job; they help teach people about the species and inspire people to care about animals and nature.
The book left me with mixed feelings since everyone is trying so hard to adjust a wildlife animal to get used to new sights, smells, and sounds, how to be around groups of people, and even how to ride in a van nicknamed the Sloth Express.
Making special appearances at places like schools, hospitals, and TV stations may be an important part of Tornero’s ambassador duties… but it’s just not what sloths are supposed to be doing at all.
I think I am more in the line of The One and Only Ivan, but for small kids, seeing the constant care the zoo has for this tiny sloth might serve as a good sample of proper handling.
Teaching Tornero is available on May 23, 2023.
Publisher: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Press
Publish Date: May 23, 2023
Pages: 36
Type: Hardcover
EAN/UPC:9781943198177
Up next, a colorful cat book by Emily Gravett:
10 Cats by Emily Gravett
This is a counting board book for very young readers. You get to identify each of the cats by their spots and colors and see what a mess they make when they find a couple of jars of paint when their mother falls asleep.
The mess is colorful, albeit a bit on the complicated side. Maybe the kids will be able to identify each squirming little kitten, or maybe not. Of course, playtime eventually turns into bath time when Mama wakes.
It reminded me a bit of a very good old classic, Mouse Paint, but ten kittens instead of three mice may make the differences between each one harder to spot.
10 Cats is available on May 2, 2023.
Published by Boxer Books
Hardcover | Pages: 42
ISBN: 9781914912580
