You should know that I’m the kind of person who always covers her eyes during nature shows when the cheetah is closing in on the gazelle. I know hunting is the way of much of the animal world, and I’m a carnivore, too. But I don’t really want to see pictures of it.
When I picked up this book, all I saw was the title Zebras. I didn’t realize until I got into it a bit that it was part of an Animal Prey series (from Lerner Publishing).
My first thought was, "Gross!" Followed by, "Who would want to read this?"
But then I figured I shouldn’t make such assertions without actually reading the book! So I did.
The book covers the life cycle of the zebra with an emphasis on how being prey constantly affects its life. It follows one young zebra in particular:
"Today, in the early morning light, the newest member of one zebra family is born. It’s a little male."
I thought, "Oh boy, if they kill this kid or his mom…"
But his whole family survives. Other members of the herd are not so lucky, and we see the devastating results of that. A graphic image of a zebra with huge slash wounds from a lion on her side. A horrifying picture of a lioness hanging onto the underside of a zebra mare, the lioness’ teeth stretching the zebra’s skin away from her belly. The zebra is braying(?)/screaming, and it’s the kind of picture that has no gore whatsoever yet will probably give me nightmares.
Still, in the end, I have to give kudos to this book. Author Sandra Markle writes beautifully:
"Gliding on currents of warm air, a white-backed vulture is the first to spot the carcass on the ground."
And the images (which were not shot for the book) meld so well with the text that I almost thought the photos had been shot by Markle as well.
Throughout the book, the language is precise, accessible, and easy to read. And the storyline of the young male zebra pulls the reader through the story. There’s constant tension. Will little zebra survive? Will his mother? And along the way, while reading to find out those answers, you learn a lot about zebras: daily life, migration patterns, social structure, diet, physical characteristics, behvior, etc.
I have to give this book a thumbs-up. While I probably wouldn’t choose to read a book that focuses on an animal’s role as prey, I do know that science standards require kids to learn about animals’ roles as predator and/or prey. And I think the violent aspect of this book will appeal to lots of kids, perhaps even some that usually think books are boring. It’s jam-packed with information and is extremely readable. And I guess you can’t ask for much more than that!
Check out Anastasia Suen’s Nonfiction Monday roundup!
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I’m now taking registration for the next session of my online class: Writing Children’s Nonfiction Books for the Educational Market. You can read complete class info here (where you can read feedback from my recent students on page 6), and you can read feedback from students in the first session here. Then, if you think this class is a good fit for you, you can register here.