Being a Sloth

Gr 3–5—An opening chapter invites readers to imagine themselves as the featured animal, either in fanciful terms ("Would you become an incredible drummer" if you were an octopus?") or more fact-based ones ("Your back legs are so weak that you can't walk") as a sloth. The imagination motif is reprised periodically, mixed neatly into straight descriptions of the distinct characteristics of each animal. Full-page photographs alongside each page of straightforward text are generally high quality and often quite effective at highlighting key features and behaviors, such as a toucan's fruit-eating technique. Arrow-shaped text boxes provide additional tidbits of information that are directly related to the photos they point toward. The use of bubble-shaped text borders and occasional photos inset on top of each other result in slightly crowded pages, but most of the layouts are effective. Information about endangered status is provided where relevant, with data current as of 2013.