Pond Walk

PreS-Gr 3—In this well-composed picture book, Buddy Bear and his mother spend a summer day observing and sketching pond life. Buddy hopes to spot a turtle. He makes notes and draws many of the plants, bugs, and animals he sees while his mom reads factual information from a field guide. Specimens include ducks and geese, a whirligig beetle, a frog, cattails, duckweed, water lilies, dragonflies and damselflies, a salamander, and a pond skater. Buddy does see a turtle briefly and also spots one in the clouds and in a rock formation. Interspersed in the sequential text are Buddy's love of food and his sense of humor in the form of some nature jokes and puns. Wallace's familiar mixed-media collage illustrations (cut paper, photographs, and colored pencil) make this a visually appealing and informative look at limnology. Instructions are included for making a rock turtle.—Julie R. Ranelli, Queen Anne's County Free Library, Stevensville, MD