Marsupials

Author: Nic Bishop
Photographer: Nic Bishop

© Date: 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Pages: 48
Chapters: No
Photographs: Yes, some page layouts have a picture page opposite a text page
Publisher Recommended Age: 4-8
Bonus Activities at End of Book: A glossary and a brief story about Nic Bishop’s adventures working on the book.

Summary from Book: Marsupial mothers raise their young in special pockets on their bellies. There are more than 300 types of marsupials, from possums that glide from tree to tree, to dunnarts that nest in hollows.

Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.

Page Pig Thoughts: Many more marsupials exist than just kangaroos and koala bears. This book will help you expand your marsupial knowledge and appreciate  the wonderfully uniqueness, cuteness, and sometimes silly names that marsupials have to offer. After reading about the fun facts, we flipped through the pictures several times on our own.

Family Unit: Mentions the unique relationship between marsupial mothers and joeys (mothers raise their babies inside a pouch or on her belly).

Conflict/Social Issues:

  1. Briefly mentions what carnivorous marsupials eat, which can be insects or other marsupials. No details are given, just says that is what they eat.
  2. The extra story at the end briefly mentions that animals brought to Australia have preyed on some marsupials to the point of making some rather rare.

Positive Items:

  1. Gives plenty of fun facts about all sorts of marsupials.
  2. The gorgeous photographs seem like you can almost feel the texture of the fur on some of the animals.

Items of Interest:

  1. Mentions that marsupials give birth to babies too little/undeveloped to look after itself. Soon after birth, babies wriggle into their mother’s pouch. They latch onto a nipple with their mouth and don’t let go. They feed on their mother’s milk until they are big enough to leave the pouch.
  2. Also mentions that some marsupials do not have pouches. Babies cling to their mother’s belly instead. They sometimes fall off, and a mother may go back to collect a youngster.
  3. Mentions that koala joeys eat pap, which is a special poop that their mother makes.
  4. Mentions carnivorous marsupials that eat insects, spiders, lizards, and even scorpions.
  5. Mentions that a Tasmanian devil hunts frogs, lizards, and wallabies. They also eat already dead animals, like kangaroos. A tasmanian devil can crunch through tough bones and thick skin.
  6. The story at the end about Nic Bishop’s adventures making the book mentions that some marsupials are rare due to animals brought to Australia that prey on marsupials. Some animals were photographed at wildlife parks, where they are being bred until the day that they can be kept safe enough to be released back into the wild.

 

2 thoughts on “Marsupials”

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