Home by Charles Hope
Wild Dog Books, 2019. ISBN: 9781742034249.
(Age: 7+) Highly recommended. Themes: Information book, Animal homes
and habitats. The ingenious dwellings of the animal kingdom are
portrayed here through beautiful and insightful photography (as with
Hope's very successful Close up series and the CBCA
shortlisted The big book of Antarctica). The book first
explains why homes are important for animals before giving brief
information about animal habitats. It then separates animals into
two categories: the builders and the squatters. The builders section
shows and discusses webs, hives lodges, burrows, bird nests and
non-bird nests (such as termite mounds and alligator nests). The
squatters section deals with those who dwell in caves (entrance,
twilight and dark zones), hollows, shells and exoskeletons. There is
no great detail about any one animal but a focus on the types of
homes and why and how they are built or chosen. There is a great
diversity of animals mentioned, including many that children may be
unfamiliar with or not know much about. There is then a double page
each on animal homes in zoos, pet life and farm life (with each
discussing the purpose and associated problems of these unnatural
animal homes). There is also some information about baby animals'
first homes (eggs, chrysalis, pouch, frogspawn, womb) and those who
are carried by their parents as young. The book then succinctly
answers the question of why not all animals need homes and explains
migration and its purpose.
Overall, this is a fantastic text that explains why things are the
way they are rather than just stating what happens. It provides
fascinating information about this Australian Curriculum topic in an
interesting and engaging way. It is very reader friendly with plain
language, an unfussy layout that contains lots of white space and
some full-page photographs that provide a break from the pages with
longer text sections. The photographs are spectacular and provide a
detailed and insightful look at many new and unusual animal homes.
There is also a detailed glossary and index to assist readers in
developing research skills.
Nicole Nelson