HEADS  

People look at animals and exclaim how cute or cuddly or ferocious they are.  They rarely look at animals to see how perfectly they have been adapted to survive. With Heads (Atheneum, New York, 1988) and All Kinds of Feet we wanted to give children the tools to make their own discoveries about why animals look the way they do. If you are aware that having eyes on the sides of your head allows you to look to the front, to the side, and behind for danger without moving, you will understand why zebras and ostriches look the way they do.  When you see that the dromedary camel has a double row of long lashes to keep out sand, thin nostrils that can close tightly to keep out wind and sand, lips and tongue that are tough enough to chew thorny desert plants, you can appreciate how the camel copes with living in the desert. Children will be able to apply what they learn reading Heads to all animals they encounter.

Click on the arrow at the top right of the photo to go to the next pages in the slide show of the book below.