In his children's picture book CURIOUS CRITTERS (November 2011, Wild Iris Publishing, hardcover, ages 4-8) photographer David FitzSimmons turns his camera on a variety of animals common throughout North America. CURIOUS CRITTERS presents stunning images of everyday animals, including a red flat bark beetle, an Eastern spiny softshell turtle, a spotted salamander, and many other intriguing creatures. Each Curious Critter is photographed against a white backdrop, showcasing the animals' colors, textures, and shapes with precision and clarity. Along with each photo is a vignette, told from the critter's perspective, that educates and entertains. For example, a bush katydid explains her bubblegum-pink color, a poetic opossum opines upon her often-shortened name, and a far-from-modest black swallowtail butterfly lets readers in on her secret for avoiding predators.
When parents read CURIOUS CRITTERS with their kids not only will they have fun reading, but they also inspire in them a life-long interest in nature. Kids will want to swap TV and video games for a trips to the park or more time in the backyard. So, get ready to have a budding biologist on your hands!
Just some of what kids will learn:
What turtles and humans have in common
Why black swallowtail butterflies impersonates their toxic cousins
How Eastern box turtles can live longer than humans (over 150 years!)
If squirrels can fly
Why crayfish grow new legs
How bats find food
Why frogs sing
How jumping spiders jump and why they never have to look over their shoulders.
Curious? To see sample photos from CURIOUS CRITTERS visit:
www.curious-critters.com.
ABOUT DAVID FITZSIMMONSDavid FitzSimmons is a freelance photographer and writer as well as a university professor. He photographs and writes for various magazines, including Outdoor Photographer, PopularPhotography, and Shutterbug, newspapers, and online publications, and his over-100 calendar credits include numerous titles by BrownTrout and Barnes & Noble. Curious Critters is David's first children's picture book.
A former high school English teacher, David has been in education for twenty years. He is a professor at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio. David holds a Ph.D. in English from Ohio State University, with a specialty in narrative theory-investigating the components of storytelling-something that influences his photography and writing.
David was inspired to photograph and write about nature by his parents, Mick and Judy FitzSimmons, active environmentalists and life-long teachers, and he is assisted in his natural history endeavors by his wife, Olivia, a naturalist, and his two daughters, Sarah and Phoebe.
One of five Sigma Pro photographers in North America, David presents seminars and workshops to a wide variety of audiences, from public school groups and college classes to nature centers and civic organizations. His works have been exhibited at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, the National Center for Nature Photography, and the Telluride Photo Festival, among other venues. David's environmentally focused, multi-media performance, "350: Images of Fragile Earth," travels widely.
Visit David at: www.fitzsimmonsphotography.com
My Take on the Book
You will definitely enjoy this book which is full of amazing close up photographs of varous animals. You can see such detail in the animals' bodies. Here are some of the animals that our author/photographer included in this book: frogs, toads, a bat, birds, a flying squirrel, a fox snake, a Chinese praying mantis, a spotted salamander, and more.
David FitzSimmons shares many interesting facts about each animal but he does this in a very clever way. He writes as if the animal is talking. The sharing is done through basic facts, songs, and poetry.
At the end of the book there are two pages devoted to sharing the silhouettes of each animal. The life size silhouette allows you to see how the animals are different in size and shape. It was helpful to me as I read the book to be able to take note of the differences in their size . I believe a child will enjoy this section and a conversation could easily take place about the largest and smallest critters.
It is my experience that children are curious about animals. I see this book as a great resource to learn about some unusual animals. I also see it as one that would be helpful for school age children.
All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Disclaimer for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.
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