Mammals: A Compare and Contrast Book

All kids are familiar with at least some kinds of mammals, but most young kids don’t have any real concept of what actually defines a mammal.

Katharine Hall’s new picture book Mammals: A Compare and Contrast Book is a fantastic introduction to the idea. This book is packed with information written in easy-to-understand language that is perfect for preschoolers and kindergarteners. It talks about the important features that make an animal a mammal: breathing air, having a spine, being warm blooded, having hair or fur, giving birth to live babies, and more. There are pictures of all kinds of animals to illustrate these points, and kids will love seeing animals that are both familiar and different! There are a few fun activities included in the back, such as a dichotomous key to help kids identify animals as mammals or not, a “Mammal or Not?” game, and ideas about looking for wild mammals nearby, such as looking for tracks or scat.

The publisher also offers additional free learning resources online, making this book a great launching point for self-directed learning at home or even for a home school unit on mammals.