Hidden Creature Features
by Jane Park
Primary    Millbrook    32 pp.
3/23    9781728445670    $29.32

“Do you see our adaptations— / a tail, / a horn, / a claw, / or beak? / ­Others aren’t so easy to spot. / Can you find them? / Take a peek!” With this introduction, Park invites readers to learn about animal structures that may not be observable until an animal opens its mouth, spreads its limbs, or brushes back its fur or feathers. Page layouts are designed to first hint at the featured adaptation. When the page is turned, an intriguing body part is revealed, accompanied by an accessible explanation of how that part is used by the animal to eat, maneuver, defend, or attack. Crisp, zoomed-in stock photographs of the animals, including pangolins, penguins, owls, and red-eyed tree frogs, clearly show the fine details of their distinctive anatomies. The book ends with a prompt for readers to relate the scientific concept of structure and function to their own bodies: “What’s something / we might not see / that makes you, YOU?”

Pubissue-From the July/August 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.