Animal Homes (Animal Anatomy & Adaptations)

Animal Homes (Animal Anatomy and Adaptations), written by Mary Holland, focuses on how a variety of different creatures in nature build and use their homes. This is a relatively short and concise picture book in which children will learn fascinating facts about what materials animals use to create their places of refuge and protection. Spider silk, saliva, mud, sticks, and twigs are just a few. How tree cavities are naturally formed as well as how they are constructed by birds like wood peckers is described. How dreys are used as temporary homes for flying, red, and eastern grey squirrels is delineated as well. Many more interesting truths about animal habitats are included, as are a plethora of colorful photographs that correspond to them.

This well-written informational text will make a perfect addition to the libraries of elementary school science classrooms around the globe. The intended audience is children ages six to ten. It can be used as a resource guide or for supplemental instruction, student reports, and class projects. Youth will find some of the less ordinary facts intriguing, even mystifying. One such example is that a bald-faced hornet uses its own saliva in combination with chewed wood to make paste to outline the cells in which it will raise its young. Another is that young spittle bugs blow bubbles that fall down, cover their bodies, and serve as protection against insect-eating critters. Readers will conclude how critically important dwellings are to a species’ long-term survival.