Review: Can an Aardvark Bark?

Title: Can an Aardvark Bark?
Author: Melissa Stewart
Illustrator: Steve Jenkins
Publisher: Beach Lane Books
Review copy: Final copy from publisher
Availability: On shelves now


Summary: From award-winning author Melissa Stewart and Caldecott honoree Steve Jenkins comes a noisy nonfiction exploration of the many sounds animals make.

Can an aardvark bark? No, but it can grunt. Lots of other animals grunt too... 

Barks, grunts, squeals--animals make all kinds of sounds to communicate and express themselves. With a growling salamander and a whining porcupine, bellowing giraffes and laughing gorillas, this boisterous book is chock-full of fun and interesting facts and is sure to be a favorite of even the youngest animal enthusiasts.

Review: 
Children are sure to squeel, grunt, growl and make all manner of wild sounds when reading this entertaining bit of nonfiction. The book is in a question and answer format and is accompanied by Steve Jenkins' wonderful illustrations. Throughout the book, readers find out about animals that do and do not make various sounds. There are also other facts about the animals included in captions. These captions add a lot to the text and will be gobbled up by animal fans.

The illustrations fascinate me as a lover of paper art and collage. The porcupine is fabulous with its amazing quills. The texture of the boar is also fabulous. I think this, like many of the books Steve Jenkins has illustrated, would be a natural jumping off point for creating animal art.

This is definitely a book I am eager to share with students. Animals are intriguing to most children and this look at ways to communicate easily ties into our own ways to communicate.

Recommendation: If you are looking for engaging nonfiction picture books, Can an Aardvark Bark? is one you will want to purchase. It's sure to be a hit with children and adults. 

Extras:
Interview on Mr. Schu's Watch. Connect. Read.