Nonfiction Monday -- Lots of Spots

Lots of Spots by Lois Ehlert. New York: Beach Lane Books, 2010. Available now.

Ehlert's usual fluorescent colors are muted in this book. This time she works hard to duplicate the actual coloring of the animals she depicts, using cut-paper collage.

Publisher's Weekly says: The layers of handmade paper--brightly colored and often richly textured--that form each critter, crisply arranged on a white background, lend a sense of up-close immediacy...Budding naturalists and animal lovers of a broad range will surely be amused."

There is a four-line poem for each animal, which manages to convey a great deal of factual information in addition to bits of whimsy. Some of the rythm doesn't quite scan, but it's all in fun.

More Nonfiction Monday posts can be found at Three Turtles and their Pet Librarian.
-wendieO