A Strange Place to Call Home: The World's Most Dangerous Habitats & the Animals That Call Them Home
Brand: Chronicle Books
Categories: Books, Children's Books, Literature & Fiction



Grade level: Preschool - 3
Dimensions: 9 x 0.5 x 11.25 inches
Reading age: 4 - 8 years
ISBN-13: 978-1452101200
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1452101205
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Print length: 44 pages
Publication date: August 22, 2012
subtitle: Hardcover – Picture Book, August 22, 2012
author: Visit Amazon's Marilyn Singer Page search results Marilyn Singer Ed Young
review: Editorial Reviews From Booklist Why would some animals choose to live in extreme heat, cold, dryness, or darkness? Fourteen poems celebrate the unusual animals that have adapted to equally unusual habitats where competition is lighter and safety from predators is greater. Humboldt penguins burrow eggs along the dry coasts of Chile and Peru rather than riding on ice floes; snow monkeys stay warm by huddling in hot springs rather than swinging from trees; and ice worms wriggle beneath glacial ice rather than soil, aided by their natural antifreeze. Other poems, including the styles of free verse, rhyming, haiku, triolet, villanelle, and terza rima, describe the adaptations of blind cave fish, mudskippers, mountain goats, and petroleum flies. The final poem, “City Living,” shows adaptation in progress as red foxes adjust to urban sprawl. Young’s textured paper collage illustrations help evoke some of the planet’s seemingly less hospitable locales. Endnotes offer more information about each animal as well as the poetry forms used. This enlightening collection brings beauty and respect to strangeness. Grades K-3. --Angela Leeper Review "Singer's poems marvel at unlikely existences." - Publishers Weekly "Singer's poems marvel at unlikely existences." - Publishers Weekly "Singer's poems marvel at unlikely existences." - Publishers Weekly "Fascinating, enlightening, and strikingly illustrated." - School Library Journal "Fascinating, enlightening, and strikingly illustrated." - School Library Journal "Fascinating, enlightening, and strikingly illustrated." - School Library Journal "This enlightening collection brings beauty and respect to strangeness." - Booklist "This enlightening collection brings beauty and respect to strangeness." - Booklist "This enlightening collection brings beauty and respect to strangeness." - Booklist About the Author Marilyn Singer is the author of more than 90 books for children and young adults, but she especially loves to write poetry. She lives with her husband and several pets in Brooklyn, New York, which is sometimes a strange place to call home, and in Washington, Connecticut. Ed Young has illustrated more than 80 books for children He is the winner of the Caldecott Medal, in addition to many other awards. He lives with his family in New York. Read more