Mia Posada

Picture-book naturalist Mia Posada explores the world of animal eggs in this engaging and interactive work for younger children. The book alternates between two-page spreads in which a particular kind of egg is described in rhyming text, with an accompanying question about what's inside, and two-page spreads on which the answer is given, along with more information about the animal in question. Animals profiled include penguins, alligators, ducks, sea turtles, spiders and octopodes. An show more afterword shows each of the eggs in real size, and provides a progression of a duckling growing inside his egg...

Having greatly enjoyed Posada's subsequent Who Was Here?: Discovering Wild Animal Tracks, with its interactive question and answer format, and alternation between simple rhyming descriptions and more detailed informational passages in prose, I was happy to discover that Guess What Is Growing Inside This Egg features the same structure. I think that this works very well, not just in imparting information, but in keeping young readers and listeners involved in the reading process. The accompanying collage style artwork here is likewise engaging, and adds to the reading pleasure. Recommended to young animal lovers and naturalists. show less

Author/illustrator Mia Posada explores the world of animal tracks in this engaging and informative work of picture-book natural history. The book alternates between two-page spreads showing a particular animal track, with rhyming text giving clues as to the animal's identity, as well as an invitation to guess which creature it is, and two-page spreads giving the answer, with a prose text that provides more information about the animal in question. A brief afterword gives suggestions to young show more people, in looking for animal tracks themselves, as well as a list of further reading ideas...

Who Was Here?: Discovering Wild Animal Tracks is a well-formatted book, presenting its information in such a way that children will remain interested and engaged. The poetic hints, and the repeated question, "Who Was Here?," keep the child reader and listener involved in the reading process. The hints themselves contain information that will possibly allow the reader to guess the identity of the animal, even if they don't recognize the track in question. The accompanying artwork, done in watercolor and collage, is very appealing, and adds to the pleasure of reading the book. I was tickled, moreover, to see that Posada listed Jim Arnosky's Wild Tracls! A Guide to Nature's Footprints in her list of further reader, as Arnosky is, of course, the master of picture-book natural history. Recommended to all the young animal and nature lovers out there. show less

I put my name in for this title at Lerner's Free Book Friday because it looked interesting and I always want more books that will get kids outdoors and interested in nature (which, when you think about how much I dislike going outdoors is kind of ironic).

When the book arrived, I first realized that I actually knew the author's work - she did The Long, Long Journey which is amazing. And when I read the book I realized that it was amazing and I can't wait to use it in storytime!

Each page has a show more rhyming narrative of clues and then the repeated question, "Who was here?" The following spread reveals the answer and gives a brief paragraph of information about the animal. Animals include a bear, wolf and moose, kangaroo, hippo and egret, beaver, camel and snake, and jaguar. There is a page of information on how you can learn to read tracks yourself, a couple websites, and four books suitable for the same age range as this one for further reading. The clues and answers are simple enough to read with preschoolers, while the additional information will be great for discussions with kindergarten and slightly older children.

Posada's illustrations are reminiscent of Steve Jenkins' colorful ripped paper collages, but have richer backgrounds and a more realistic, natural look in my opinion. I especially liked that the text was carefully colored to stand out from the background, changing from light to dark as the background changes. The clue pages show not only the footprints in the mud, sand, or other ground but also a sampling of foliage around them. The solution page shows the animal in a typical activity with the background expanded to include more of its habitat.

Verdict: This is the perfect book for science-based storytimes at any time of the year and I look forward to using it with my outreach visits. Highly recommended.

ISBN: 9781467718714; Published 2014 by Milbrook/Lerner; Won in Free Book Friday; Donated to the library show less

Picture-book naturalist Mia Posada turns to one of the world's most beloved insects in this engaging title, exploring the life cycle of the ladybug (sometimes also known as a ladybird). In rhyming text, she explores the ladybug's appearance, and its various stages of development, from egg to larvae to pupa to full-fledged beetle. An afterword gives more detailed information about ladybugs...

First published in 2002, Ladybugs: Red, Fiery, and Bright was Posada's second book, and the eighth of show more her titles that I have read. I found it engaging, but don't think it is quite as strong as some of her later books - titles like Guess What Is Growing Inside This Egg and Who Was Here?: Discovering Wild Animal Tracks. The rhyme scheme sometimes felt a little awkward, and although I found the artwork lovely overall, I thought the depiction of the flora and fauna was more convincing than the solitary human figure - a young girl with a ladybug on her arm. Despite these small critiques, overall I would recommend this one. It makes for an entertaining and informative introduction to the basic biology of the ladybug for younger children. show less