Honk, Honk, Goose: Canada Geese Start a Family debuts April 14, 2009.

Another animal lays eggs in sand, too-not in the desert, but on a beach. The mother animal weighs as much as a refrigerator full of food. Can you guess the animal?

Sea turtle mothers lay their eggs and leave them. The hatchlings must fend for themselves. But another kind of creature guards its eggs and the hatchlings.

Another has to begin the year by finding a home and building a colony.

And here is an animal family with a parent who takes protecting the young very seriously!

Honk, Honk, Goose

A native bee, the bumblebee. takes a starring role in this nonfiction picture book about the bumblebee’s life cycle and natural history. Learn how a queen bumblebee digs out of the ground and starts her year all alone yet builds a colony by summer’s end.

Patricia is a highly skilled scientific illustrator. This book has been a big hit for elementary read alouds. Young children enjoy learning about small creatures such as the fuzzy bumblebees. Educators particularly like the tidbits of information in the small sidebars on each page.

Standards are here.  

A tasty frog croaks. Delicious warthogs tromp by. Crocodile doesn’t move. She hasn’t eaten in weeks. But she only lies and listens. Crocodile has a secret hidden in the sand.