Back of the book blurb: While Little Skink hunts yummy ants for breakfast, she is suddenly attacked by a crow! But she has a trick to escape she snaps off her tail, and it keeps on wiggling! Little Skink is happy to be alive, but she misses her bright blue tail. Readers will enjoy pretending with her, trying on tail after tail. The first is too puffy-fluffy, and another too stinky! Then one day Little Skink gets a big surprise…and she doesn’t have to dream of tails anymore. The For Creative Minds section has information on tail adaptations and communications and a mix-and-match tail activity.
She is Too Fond of Books’ Review: This award-winning book entertained and educated my 4-, 6-, and 10-year old children. The younger ones delighted in Halfmann’s choice of sound words (sniff sniff!, gobble gobble!, wiggle waggle!) and the predictable repetition of Little Skink thoughts as she “imagined herself wearing the tail of every animal she met.”
My older son enjoyed comparing Little Skink to his own pet anole (“Dextra”), and researched further to learn more about skinks. My youngest added a few vocabulary words (basked, scampered and slinked), and my 6-year-old beginning reader has read it through several times after our initial read-aloud together time.
Janet Halfmann’s engaging text teaches about skinks in a setting that is probably familiar to young readers, involving cottontail rabbits, squirrels and skunks in the narrative. Laurie Allen Klein accompanies the text with beautifully rendered watercolor illustrations.
The back pages of the book contain a “For Creative Minds” section with a footprint map (for animal identification and compass orientation) and a tail-matching activity. Little Skink’s Tail is the recipient of several awards in 2009, including the Learning Magazine Teacher’s Choice Award, FPA President’s Award Best Children’s Book, and Mom’s Choice Award.
On the company’s website, Sylvan Dell explains that they are “a young company on a serious mission to create picture books that excite children’s imaginations, are artistically spectacular, and have educational value.” On the basis of Little Skink’s Tail, I would say they are succeeding in their mission. This book is perfect for preschool through elementary-level children, and may be especially appropriate for homeschoolers.
You may also enjoy:
- Baby Owl’s Rescue by Jennifer Keats Curtis
- Seven Miles to Freedom by Janet Halfmann
Nice review!! It really does look like a great book.
Lol. Skinks kind of freak me out. My mom’s dog likes to chase them and if he can catch them, eat them.
I have to confess, my first reaction was “ICK!” and then “What exactly is a skink?” But I bet my 4-year-old would really like it!
Thanks so much for reviewing Little Skink’s Tail. It makes me so happy that your children all liked it so much. Your 10-year-old with the pet anole and the illustrator would have a lot to talk about. She lives in Florida, where skinks are more common, and right after she got the assignment for the book, she found a skink with a blue tail in her garage! She figured it must be fate that she draw the pictures for this book!
That does sound like a cute book. Thanks for including the responses of your children. When my nephews are a teeny bit older I think they will like this one.
Beth – truly, if this is an example of the type of book published by Sylvan Dell, I want them all!
Ladytink – I saw the pic you posted with a phython hanging around your neck … and skinks freak you out?!?!
Janet – what a fun connection! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a skink (except for your Little Skink). I’ll keep an eye out the next time we’re in Florida.
Amber – My kids like to chime in with their opinions. After all, they’re the audience, I’m just the conduit (reader) for the author’s words.
[...] I received a two copies of Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Janet Halfmann. The author wrote Little Skink’s Tail, a wonderful non-fiction nature book that I reviewed here. [...]