Paul Morin

Animal Dreaming tells the story of the Australian Aboriginal people. The elders in the story interpret the story of the rock art left by their ancestors to tell Mirri about their history. Some of the themes that I saw in the story were that the earth has a place for each creature so if they work together they can all live in peace. We all leave our marks in different ways like how the aboriginal people of Australia left their heritage with rock art about Dreamtime and the creation of animals show more and the earth. It also emphasizes how important dreams are and reflecting on the dreams you have like the animals did when they were trying to bring peace to their community. Mirri learns about his ancestral heritage through tales from the ancient rock art from the aboriginal peoples and through the stories told by his elders. There is also a glossary at the beginning of this book for all the terms used to tell the story of the Aboriginal people that readers might not know. show less

A valuable book, in that crocodiles aren't cute or awesome like pandas or polar bears and so lots of people don't realize that they need protection, too. But I know that if I were to have read it to my children, we would have been frustrated by the lack of any 'dragon' reference as promised by the title, and by the lack of explanation of *why* they're hunted. And the text was kind of dry & would come out mostly monotone as read aloud, at least by me. So, to be frank, I just wasn't all the show more impressed. show less

In the Everglades, a Florida panther searches for food to keep her strength up to nurse her kittens. The simple story of this picture book for primary students comes alive with Paul Morin's striking, vibrant illustrations of the lush vegetation and wildlife of the Florida Everglades. Jonathan London's concise free verse suggests the anticipation and secrecy of the scarce panther's mission. An educational postscript is above the reading level of the rest of the book, but teachers and parents show more will find it a helpful resource. This high-quality book is an admirable addition to a collection on endangered animals for primary-age children. show less

I am not really a huge fan of this book. I appreciate the story, but truthfully it was all a bit confusing. I read the whole thing twice and still ended not fully knowing what was going on in the book. The front of the story comes with a 1 page little dictionary of words that are native to Australia that someone reading probably wouldn't recognize, but that didn't really help me a whole lot. I can't really picture myself reading this to my kids, just because I don't get excited to read the show more next page when I read this book. The illustration is beautiful in this book, but it is not my personal favorite story wise. show less