"Using uncomplicated language, naturalist and photographer Mary Holland explains how animal eyes communicate more to us than we ever knew. Animal lovers will appreciate the stunning photographs; captivating visuals of snakes, owls, and turtles dominate readers' attention while the text engages readers through vocabulary and questions. The glossary is educational though only one of the entries is actually included in the text itself. Interesting in topic and visually enjoyable, this book is worth browsing."
-Aimee Haslam, Graduate Student, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
"The aim of this book is to show the eyes of a wide variety of animals, from small to large. As the author notes,"Eyes help us find food, make things, recognize friends, and move from one place to another." The book contains a number of large, full color photographs of nine animals, including a little girl. The book includes a page of fun facts, a glossary, and a game of matching eyes with animals. Each picture is accompanied by several short sentences that are printed in large, easy to read text. This includes questions such as, "Do you think the box turtle is a boy or a girl?" This would make a great early reader."
-Donald Logsdon Jr.
"With simple text and revealing close-up photographs, nature photographer Holland demonstrates how an animal's eyes can tell us something about their owner.
Predators' eyes, located on the fronts of their heads, work together to help them judge the distance to their prey. Prey animals, on the other hand, have eyes on either side of their heads that allow them to detect threats from many directions. These and other facts about the eyes of animals ranging from owls and dragonflies to turtles and human children are likely to fascinate readers drawn in by the illustrations. Besides predator-prey distinctions, the author also points out the large eyes of nocturnal animals, the eight eyes of spiders and the third eyelid of some swimming animals (the phrase "nictitating membrane" is explained in the backmatter). Finally, she points out that eyes can reveal age or sex. Eyes matter! The large-font text includes challenges to readers: "Do you think this black bear cub is very young or older?" Four pages of backmatter provide further facts, definitions and matching games. The animals shown are clearly identified in the text; a repeated list on the colophon includes the slug on the title page.
Less complex than other titles on the subject, this would be a good starting point for curious children just starting to read."
"This story is about how animals see their predators or prey/food. The colorful close-up pictures of all the animals and insects look like they are alive. You can inspect the animal in its own space. I liked the picture puzzles in the back of the book. I am not used to thinking about animals as predator and prey as the author describes in the book. I learned that you can tell whether a box turtle is a boy or a girl by the color of their eyes. The inside cover of the book has a list of the animals included in the book. I would like to read this author's other animal books. In the Animal Fun Facts, I learned that your eyes blink over 27,000 times in one day. I think this book is unique because it is about one body part and I never read those kinds of books before. In the Glossary, I liked the pictures of different animal eyes. I think six-year-olds and up would learn a lot from this book."
-reviewed by Shaayan, Age 6
"Animal Eyes is an amazing book about how the eyes of wild animals have evolved to help them survive. Striking full-color photography on every page accents simple text about why prey animals such as chipmunks have eyes on the sides of their heads (to spot and evade predators), while raptors have excellent binocular vision (to facilitate hunting thier prey), and much more... Highly recommended, especially for grade school and public library children's nonfiction picturebook collections."
"With realistic photos of what eyes look like from a variance of animals, Animal Eyes educates young readers on the function of eyes and how they benefit different animals. For instance, readers learn that a coyote's eyes are located in the front of its head because it is a predator. Other animals and critters featured include hawks, dragonflies, snakes, and more."
Full of truly stunning photographs of different animals and their eyes and there were even a few facts in there that I didn't know!"
"Eyes come in different sizes, shapes, and colors. We depend on our eyes to find things, to recognize friends, to read a story. Animals depend on their eyes to find food, recognize their families, and understand the world around them.
Filled with photos, Mary Holland shows a diversity of animal eyes. She shows the difference between predator eyes and prey eyes. She discusses simple eyes and compound eyes. Her photos include night eyes and day eyes, eyes with special eyelids, and animals with more than two eyes."
"Written in straight-forward prose, the child will absorb facts tucked away that teach the difference in the eyes of predators and prey animals. They will learn just what a predator and what a prey animal is. They will learn that different eyes have more eyelids than human eyes have and the purpose of these extra eyelids.
They will learn about the number of eyes creatures have and why they have more than two. Also, the positioning of the eyes and the purpose behind the positioning.
As with other publications from Arbordale, there is a For Creative Minds section in at the end of the book. This will stretch the mind of the young child and be interesting to the older reader."
Since this book is designed for young readers up to grade three or so, it doesn't go into a lot of detail but it does introduce the child to some of the unique aspects of various animals' vision. Teachers and home schooling parents will appreciate the For Creative Minds section at the back of the book which will assist in engaging the child even more.
"I received a copy of this book and loves the photography but also found it very educational. I recommend for grades K-4th. I even learned a couple of things I didn’t know in regards to animal vision. The For Creative Minds include Animal Vision Fun Facts, Match the Eye to the Animal and a Glossary."