Baby Seal

Anne Hutchings, a former elementary-school teacher-librarian with the
Durham Board of Education, is an educational consultant.

Wayne Lynch and Aubrey Lang have teamed up once again to produce four
new titles in their outstanding Nature Babies series. The four are
identical in format, from the “Before You Begin” section, which
gives the location and interesting background information (to photograph
the baby elephants, Lang and Lynch traveled around Africa in a car so
small that a male lion standing next to it could stick his head through
the window), to the “Did You Know?” section, which is filled with
little-known facts about the animals (to moult their old fur, adult
seals must heat their skin by lying on top of the ice in the warm
sunshine).

Lang has focused on specific incidents in a particular animal baby’s
life and interwoven them with information about homes, family structure,
diet and eating habits, communication, and more to tell a story about
that baby from birth until it’s old enough to fend for itself.
Lynch’s stunning photographs are carefully chosen to emphasize and add
even more details to the already information-packed text. We see the
mother lion’s roar of protest as baby’s needle-sharp claws dig in,
the frightened baby fox attacked by a pair of nesting jaegers, the
snow-covered baby seal searching in vain for his mother, and an aunt
elephant attempting to rescue a baby from the water hole.

Clearly and concisely written, liberally and judiciously illustrated,
these four titles will appeal to young children and are excellent
choices as read-alouds. School and public libraries will find them
welcome resources for beginner research assignments. Highly recommended.