Written in clear, lively prose, Nature Recycles is an ideal book to introduce recycling. By showcasing the various methods animals use to repurpose materials in their natural habitats, Lord provides examples of recycling that will inspire youngsters to creatively reuse their own objects. For example, readers learn that poison dart frogs reuse bromeliad plant leaves and nut pods from the rainforest as cradles for their young. Morrison’s full-page illustrations are bright and appealing, with accurate depictions of the ingenious ways creatures use found materials. Back matter offers downloadable activities, questions, trivia, and lists of facts. Wonderful additions to public or school libraries.
– Anne Barreca, New York Public Library
Spread by spread, a collection of curious animal behaviors and the endless loop of the water cycle are offered as examples of recycling in the natural world. From a decorator sea urchin, protected by his collection of ocean refuse, to an Asian elephant’s meal of the banana leaf she first used as a fan, the text and slightly cartoony illustrations offer varied images of adaptive reuse. The animals are treated as individuals with intention. “Hermit crab helps keep the earth beautiful too.” A quiz in the end matter makes the point explicit: Animals “recycle for nests or shelters, camouflage or protection, as tools, or as nutrients.”
"If you can ignore the anthropomorphized conceit that animals intentionally recycle (e.g., a caddisfly larva chooses to surround itself with shells found in streams), this book offers children motivation to recycle: "Frog recycles. How about you?"
Nature Recycles How About You?, written by Michelle Lord, is a delightful introduction to recycling for children. Bright, colorful, and accurate illustrations by Cathy Morrison accompany the text, both highlighting examples from around the world of various animals that recycle in their normal, daily existence. The language used is simple and straightforward, making it easily understood by even very young children. Familiar and unfamiliar animal examples are given. From the veined octopus to caddisfly larva and hermit crab to elephant, familiarity and fresh, new knowledge should captivate young readers and listeners alike. Each case of recycling is described in detail and explained in terms of how it helps the environment, as well as the creature being discussed. The final section of the book contains reproducible activities to further reinforce the text. The publisher’s website has a homepage for the book, where even more information and activities are readily available, including prepared worksheets/quizzes and links to other related sites. I was very impressed with this book and highly recommend it for home, school, and public library use. It is written for young children, but all age groups can gain important and valuable knowledge from its pages.
- Sharon D. Wenger, Lawrence Public Schools, Lawrence, KS
"This is a fun and fascinating look at many creatures in the wild who recycle. Full-page, full-color artwork swirls though this book as it illustrates many unusual ways that nature’s creatures ingeniously reuse and recycle as they help themselves. One of the more interesting ones is when we are able to watch the Galapagos Island woodpecker finch use a cactus spine to spear a grub for dinner. Newly independent readers can tackle this beginning nonfiction book with a bit of assistance with more difficult words such as “precipitation.” In the back of the book are several activities that can be downloaded and printed from the publisher’s website. This would be an excellent book to read and discuss in the homeschool or classroom setting."
"This is the perfect book to introduce young students to recycling and creatures of the wild who do just that!"
"This book provided great examples from nature on how to recycle and made me think of ways I can reuse my things. It is a perfect read for Earth Day and I recommend this book for kids of all ages."
Consecutive two-page spreads — description of the animal on the left and gorgeous, full-color illustration on the right carry the story along. The question asked on the illustration page “(name of animal) recycles. How about you?” becomes a refrain that the youngest readers will look forward to, making the book an interesting read aloud. The earth also recycles. “The earth recycles water over and over.” The story ends with showing how children recycle, and the benefits of recycling.
Animals all over the world recycle in their environments. The hermit crab uses a discarded sea snail shell as his home, an elf owl uses an old woodpecker home to build her nest, the dung beetle lives off the waste of other animals, Asian elephants use fallen leaves to swat away flies and then munch on for lunch, and many more animals use the resources around them to survive. This fun fact-filled book is a great way to teach kids about the importance of recycling. (Ages 4-8)
This book looks at recycling from sea urchins to bandicoots... and explores how animals in different habitats recycle materials for building homes to getting food. It will certainly generate discussion and may even inspire young children to recycle things in their own environment.
The child is shown how he or she can recycle used and outgrown clothes for someone else or even to remake it for something else for themselves. The child is challenged to use materials that will not hurt the environment.
Bright and colorful illustrations show creatures and environments appealingly. In the back of the book is a "Creative Minds" section that has information to challenge and instruct beyond a "story telling" mode.
In Nature Recycles – How About You? examples are presented of how these and other animals are using things they find in nature in a new and practical way. The final scene shows kids collecting plastic bottles and aluminum cans while cleaning up their environment, and recycling old clothes by using them as rags. Additional information on the animals in this book and the importance of recycling are included in the appendix. Recycling is a necessity in today’s world, and this book presents the concept in fun way. Seeing how even the animals recycle provides a great example for kids. I highly recommend this book for classroom use.
There are lots of creatures that recycle. The earth even recycles water with rain, sleet or snow. The back of the book has a “Creative Minds” section which helps readers understand why animals recycle. There is also a helpful map on where these animals are found around the world. A recycling questionnaire can also be found to test readers knowledge. Kids will love the vivid illustrations. Parents and teachers can use this tool to educate children on the importance of recycling.
Nature Recycles is a nice resource for nature study, and my son has fun implementing some of the ideas presented, such as setting out materials for our backyard birds to incorporate into their nests.