Animal Defences is part of the Life Sciences series for young readers by Mary Lindeen. From stings, to horns, teeth, and claws, to camouflage, children will learn about the many different types of defenses that animals have. Like the others in the series, this one has simple, easy to read sentences, and provides grounding in basic scientific concepts in ways young readers can grasp. The end of the book features a Connecting Concepts section with questions to ask about the reading, and practise with vocabulary and reading fluency. My cubs and I enjoyed reading this book.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Norwood House for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Animal Defenses by Mary Lindeen is a non-fiction book for early readers. This book is about how animals use their natural defenses that keep them safe. From rolling to a ball to spraying a nasty smell, animals are depicted with nice pictures and an illustration of their defense. The pictures are large and visually appealing, the animal species are varied  the information is educational and the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand.

I received this ARC from Norwood House Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Where do they find these amazing pictures of various animals in their natural habitat. They are so much fun, your child will readily enjoy the book for these pictures. Put together by experts in their field, this book facilitates your child in reading and thinking about what they are seeing at the same time.

This is a great beginning to read, non-fiction book. The pictures are large and visually appealing. The text is full of high frequency words and makes it easy to read for young readers as well as easy to understand if it is being read to them. The content words are listed at the back of the book, so could be introduced prior to reading. A great book for use in a primary classroom studying animals and how they protect themselves. I liked that the animals species in the book were varied and showed many different kinds of defenses from camouflage to use of skin and hide as well as animals that use teeth and claws. The information was presented in a very succinct way so children could remember things easily. I recommend this book to schools and primary classrooms as well as family libraries, especially if your children like animals and non-fiction books. As with other Mary Lindeen books, there are questions, facts, websites and books for further information and notes to parents.

Animal Defenses by Mary Lindeen is a beautifully photographed nonfiction story for young learners and readers. The resources for the parent/caregiver are thorough and helpful, from websites to review, vocabulary to practice and scientific terms for the word wall. However, though the author and adviser both are teachers, I feel like they missed an opportunity to reach out to younger preschool-age learners by not making text connections directly to the animals on the page, rather assuming the reader would know to ask those questions of the listener/young reader. I think students in my preschool science classes would enjoy this book for the photographs, and award it 3.5 stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview Animal Defenses.

I received this ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
This book is about how animals use their natural defenses that keep them safe. From rolling to a ball to spraying a nasty smell, animals are depicted with nice pictures and an illustration of their defense.

Animal Defenses is a non-fiction book for early readers that talks about the different ways in which animals protect and defend themselves.

My youngest children are six-years old (triplets!) and they are all obsessed with learning about animals of all kinds. The minute I saw this book, I knew they would love it. The pictures are large and visually appealing, the animal species are varied (cats and turtles, to rhinos and armadillos), the information is educational and succinct, and as it’s designed as an early reader, the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand. I read it with my kids and they absolutely loved it. If you and your children enjoy science/educational books similar to DK’s Eyewitness series, this book is a wonderful choice.

Animal Defenses, by Mary Lindeen is an informative book that provides a fun way for children to learn about animals and their natural manner of defenses against danger.

As a part of the Read and Discover Science series, this book encourages children to learn about scientific subjects while working on their reading skills. According to a note from the publisher: "The series can be used with beginning readers to practice high-frequency words, academic language, and to expand comprehension of life, earth, and physical science."

Within thirty-two pages, there are interesting science facts and Did You Know sidebars intermixed with full-color photographs. Also, there are sections titled as Connecting Concepts and Word List in the back of the book.

Animal Defenses is a children's non-fiction picture book that's geared toward kindergartners to third graders.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.