Nonfiction Monday: How Many Ways Can You Catch A Fly?

How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly?
By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Ages 4- 8, 32 pages
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2008

Reviewed by Heidi Bee Roemer

Book Source: This book was borrowed from the Orland Park Public Library for review.

Living in the wild presents creatures with a wide variety of challenges, particularly finding food, shelter, and caring for their young. Using a question-and-answer format, this delightful nature book complimented by colorful paper collage images, provides astounding insights on animal survival and adaptation. As the titles suggests, readers will discover how various animals catch a fly, plus, how to snare a fish, use a leaf, hatch an egg, dig a hole, and eat a clam. In response to each question, six animals and their clever problem-solving solutions are noted across double pages spreads. To snag a fly, the assassin bug spears it with its poisonous “beak,” the lightening-fast loris grabs it with his hands, the net-casting spider drops a web over its victim, the trout leaps out of the water, and the chameleon uses his extra-sticky, super-long tongue to snag the hapless insect. Wow!

Amazing animal facts found both in the engaging text and detailed cut-and-torn paper artwork are sure to pique readers’ interest. Several end pages offer additional fun facts and information. When it comes to intriguing, visual, kid-friendly nature books for children, Jenkins and Page, a husband and wife team, have their own menagerie of titles. Readers who enjoy the “wow factor” of How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly? will surely want to read the companion book, What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

This review is part of the Nonfiction Monday Round-Up hosted this week by Practically Paradise blog.