Meredith Hooper

I should have liked this; I tried to. But there aren't enough paintings featured, and they're reproduced small, and the cats are ugly. I do like the moral of the story, though, that cats are too independently wilful to be captured posing and that's why they don't show up more often. Fortunately there are lots of other art appreciation books for young children; skip this.

An engaging look at where water comes from follows a drop through the ages, beginning with Earth's formation billions of years ago, and provides details of the water cycle, neat facts about water, and important environmental information.

I thought the first half of the book just perfect. If it had been a little longer, with more paintings & their respective dogs shown, I'd have been pleased. The second half of the book, in which the 'real' people actually saw some of the dogs in the wrong paintings, made no sense to me. It also felt like a distraction from the 'pay close attention to details to develop art appreciation' theme that was done so well in the first half. But I suppose it might make the book more appealing to show more general audiences.

Anyway, I do recommend the book. And next time I'm in a museum I will look for all the dogs (and other animal companions) that I never noticed before! show less

A few months ago, we read aloud a book about Scott and Amundsen and their race to the South Pole. This book tells the same story, but for younger readers. It also talks about Shackleton and his place in the race. There is much less detail in this version, but the drama is still present! I would recommend this book for ages 7-9.