Melissa GishRecensioni

This book is great for students at an intermediate level. It covers so much information about leopards, such as where they live around the world, how they live, interesting facts about them, their history, and their characteristics. I would love to introduce this book to my classroom as a read-aloud during an animal or nonfiction unit for my students to learn more about these amazing animals.

Cougars are also considered panthers and pumas. Some sports teams are named after these creatures as to raise awareness and to also sound cool. Cougars run about 64-80 km/h. They tend to not run after their pray but wait until the pray comes near. When the Americans only recently came to America they offered money for people who killed cougars as they would eat the American's food. The Pink panther was also based around Cougars. Cougars tend to live longer in zoos then in the wild. Cougars make up a great part of the cat family.
I didn't find much interest in this book. It made me realize that Cougars are just another name for Pumas and panthers. I was impressed by the speed of a Cougar. They remind me of house cats as they are fairly lazy. This book is not one I would recommend for an enjoyable read. Not because its nonfiction, but because its long and gives over a page worth to explain a fun fact. It is an older book but it seems like a book you would use for an essay about Cougars. This book still made me realize that Cougars deserve some respect.

Adorable pics and nice info, but everything felt very familiar. I'm pretty sure I've read most of this info in other books and I know I've seen these pics elsewhere. I wish the book gave credit where it is due. This author has many other nonfiction animal books in a similar format that have great pics as well, but the info is the same...uncredited.

this is a wonderful book. it is very informative. it shows you different moose in their habitat.

3. The informational picture book, “Octopuses,” takes a look at octopuses, including their habitats, physical characteristics, such as their suckered arms, behaviors, relationships with humans, and mysterious status in the world today. The main idea of this book is about taking a look at how octopuses helps create the world. I adore this info book for many reasons. First, the pictures are absolutely stunning. The authentic pictures captures the reader’s attention, to read more in depth about the pictures. I like how each page includes a side bar and a smaller picture, offering extra info about octopuses. For example on page 11, an info box reads, “There are more than 120 species of cuttlefish, an octopus relative that has 8 arms as well as 2 tentacles.” The picture that goes along with it is a real picture of a cuttlefish. Second, I like how the picture book includes maps, fun facts, and a few tales. All figures, graphs, and photographs are clearly labeled and explained. Third, the depth and amount of information is a simple yet clear read. It is appropriate for any type of audience. Overall, the book broadens readers understanding of octopuses under the sea.

Melissa Gish brings out the beauty of jaguars in this book. I would recommend this book for middle-school readers, since some of the text is difficult for elementary school kids. Gish requires that the reader understand the meaning of such words as evolution, poaching, pelt, food chain--words which should be familiar to middle-school students from science classes. My students especially liked the close-up photographs of jaguars. Many of them were surprised to discover that black panthers were actually jaguars with "melanistic" genetic traits.

Although jaguars are portrayed as fearsome predators, they are also presented as vulnerable to attacks by humans, and encroachment by ranchers and land developers upon their native habitat. Gish goes briefly into the cultural significance of the jaguar for the indigenous tribes of the Amazon basin, and for the early mesoamerican civilizations (Mayans and Aztecs). A few folk-tales from the Mayans and Tupi are included with the scientific text, making the read more interesting. The photos garnered the most attention from my students. It is very rare that we get to see these cats in detail, since they are crepuscular animals, only coming out to feed during the twilight hours. The last chapter suggests that wild-life preserves and captivity are perhaps the best ways to protect jaguars from encroachment on their habitat by poachers and ranchers. Although we really do not know how long they live in the wild, Gish suggests that jaguars live about 10 years longer in captivity. While this is contestable, we know that jaguars have gradually been disappearing from the North American continent over many thousands of years, and will soon go extinct, if government interference and humanitarian organizations do not help protect them from poachers and ranchers.

This book is also great for presenting scientific terms to the young reader. For a teacher who teaches reading this is a great opportunity to teach "Word Attack" skills. Gish reviews the Latin roots of the word "Panther" and includes some other scientific nomenclature. This challenges students to decipher recognizable roots. If each page grows frustrating, there is always a photo of a beautiful cat to encourage the reader to have strength and press onward.

Very informative book. Designed for children/pre-teens interested in Bison. The pictures were great; had everything from action to stationary pictures of Bison where the reader can feel like the pictures do just as much as words in regards to educating the reader.

Science is not always my favorite subject to learn, but this book makes learning about science fun. I learned some things about temperature that I did not know before and there is even a fun experiment in the back of the book that you could do in the classroom.