Beastly Biomes

By Carly Allen-Fletcher

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    Animals, like people, live in many different environments called biomes. Deserts, forests, wetlands, and oceans support a wide range of animals and plants. Discover the different types of biomes and the creatures that live and thrive in those unique environments.

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    "Earth's five main biomes—aquatic, forest, grassland, desert, and tundra—are further broken down into subgroups, each with collages depicting that group and some of its animals. This is a fitting companion piece to Allen-Fletcher's Animal Antipodes (2018), but, unlike its sibling, it works better as a primary-grade reference book than a one-time read. Each double-page spread has a short paragraph that offers a few facts, such as, "Deciduous forests are found in cooler, rainy areas." The remainder of each page consists of one-sentence descriptions under all-caps labels near each of the stylized creatures traversing the habitat. Readers will enjoy additions to familiar names—Shiho's sea horses, curled octopuses—and less-common names, such as wobbegongs and axolotls. There is also pleasant variety in the one-apiece verb for each animal: "Musk oxen graze"; "Adelie penguins huddle." The layout and the vibrant artwork do not disappoint, and care was taken to include varied countries and continents. The plains biome, for example, includes animals from grasslands in China, Russia, Africa, New Zealand, and North and South America...Children who love animals... will enjoy perusing the pages. (Informational picture book. 5-9)" 

    — Kirkus Reviews

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    “Children will be intrigued by the lush illustrations and fascinating facts that introduce the world's five major biomes, highlighting both familiar and unfamiliar animals from around the world.”
    — Caroline Arnold, Children's Science Book Writer

    “An engaging and age-appropriate introduction fo the different biomes around the world and the living creatures that live in each biome.”
    — Susannah Richards, Professor of Education, Eastern Connecticut State University