Place four grains on the second square, eight on the next, and so on, doubling each pile of rice till the last square. The Rajah readily agrees to this believable con and, some eighteen zillion rice grains later, is forced to return the land to the people and live a more humble life. I finished with the books and with Jane Hoeppner's third-grade class inspired by the children's obvious love of animals and by the variety and caliber of books they could choose from to further their understanding. I was also encouraged by the obvious care and respect that many authors gave to their subjects. Although I remain convinced that text and art are too limited to capture the essence of any animal, my experience has been that good books never end on the written page.
Books help children gain knowledge, poetry and meaning.
And they need only go outside to hear the animals speak for themselves.