What Do Animals Do All Day?

March 1, 2018

K-Gr 2-A vibrant oversize volume that explores various "jobs" of over 100 animals. The picture book is organized into 14 different habitats. Each section features an introductory spread that shows various creatures interacting in their environment. The following spread lists eight animals individually and talks about their duties in the habitat in simple terms. For instance, clown fish act like "security guards" for sea anemone. The text is peppered with similar analogies, making for an accessible read. While this is packaged as an informational book, the content is heavily fictionalized and there are no sources cited. Readers will most enjoy looking over the humorous and expressive digital illustrations. The spread on the coral reef is especially beautiful with deep blues, purples, and pinks. VERDICT Animal lovers will enjoy multiple readings of this slight but charming book. An additional purchase.-Sarah Wilsman, Bainbridge Library, Chagrin Falls, OH

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2018
Over 100 wild animals describe their jobs in human terms.As a useful premise or even a viable conceit, this is an abject failure as nonfiction. Giving all 112 creatures introduced here different occupations, Hunt misleads with artificial cognates: the hyena tells readers: "I am a comedian"; the porcupine announces: "I am an acupuncturist." One- or two-sentence explanatory notes often muddy the waters further: "I laugh hysterically to show how important I am in the group," the hyena says. Moreover, an opening assertion that in nature animals help "their neighbors to have better lives," coupled with a scarcity of specific references thereafter to predators and prey, is just disingenuous...as is a claim later on that indigenous species in the Hawaiian Islands and those that were introduced more recently, such as the Indian mongoose (shown here robbing a bird's nest), "work side by side." The collectively produced cartoon illustrations ("Muti" is a studio) feature both individual portraits and ensemble views of each animal, generally smiling, in one of 14 relatively specific habitats, from the "Kenyan savanna in Africa" to a Washington state backyard (where honeybees are inaccurately housed in a paper-wasps' nest).An ill-conceived exercise in anthropomorphism. (index) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

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