Marleen Westera

4) Easy Chapter Book
Westera, Marleen. Sylvia Van Ommen, illus. Nancy Forest-Flier Trans. (2004). sheep and goat. Front Street.

Sheep and goat is an easy to read book about the daily activities of a sheep and a goat. Of course, these activities of arguing with one another, sharing dandelions and looking for happiness don’t abound in real-life sheep/goat interactions (or do they?). This is a story about friendship and living with someone a little different than you are.

This book is good for 7-9 year olds. It helps in learning about relationships, there are short paragraphs and a limited amount of activity. It strengthens vocabulary building by the repetition in names of characters and the activities they do eg. munching.

There is a back and forth dialogue between sheep and goat. Other animals may visit the setting but never stay. Sheep and goat always have one another to rely on. I would recommend this book because it teaches the value of friendship in a fun way.

The artwork in this book is very simple, black and white plain images of sheep and goat in their surroundings. Also, the artwork is pretty sparse compared to other books. There are drawing every 3-4 pages, sometimes more.

5) Informational/Nonfiction
Wechsler, Doug. (2006). Frog Heaven: Ecology of a Vernal Pool. Boyds Mills Press.

This informational/educational book gives the ecology of a vernal (temporary) pool throughout the year. The author identifies the wildlife that lives in a vernal pool and how they relate to one another eg. food web. This is an excellent science book for ages 7-12, even young adults will enjoy the beautiful photographs.

The author explains how pools appear and their importance in the balance of nature. I would use this book as a supplemental teaching aid in science classes to talk about Wetland Ecology. Each photograph is captioned clearly identifying the species talked about. A glossary at the end reinforces those words not understood by the reader. The photographs are integral to the book in that they give a first hand account to the species talked about..… (més)