Eat Your Rocks, Croc!: Dr. Glider's Advice for Troubled Animals (Dr. Glider #1)

by Jess Keating (Author) Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Eat Your Rocks, Croc!: Dr. Glider's Advice for Troubled Animals (Dr. Glider #1)
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade
Series: Dr. Glider

When animals have problems, they call on Dr. Sugar Glider to help!

Help me, Dr. Glider. My stomach is killing me! I eat all the same food as my family, but I'm the only one that feels sick. What's wrong with me?

Dr. Sugar Glider travels around the world to help animals (and, on occasion, plants!) with all sorts of problems. Whether it's a crocodile with a sick stomach, a creeped-out krill, a stressed meerkat, or a male praying mantis trying to date, Dr. Glider is ready to offer advice!

From powerhouse duo Jess Keating (Pink Is for Blobfish) and New York Times bestselling illustrator Pete Oswald (The Bad Seed), Eat Your Rocks, Croc! features hilarious stories, charming illustrations, and awesome true facts that will leave young readers enthralled by the real world of the animal kingdom. Robust back matter, featuring a glossary and a list of the featured creatures, makes this the perfect fit for the school curriculum.

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Kirkus

Keating's language is full of puns, but her science is spot-on... Frankly fantastic but fact-filled fun.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3—This nonfiction catalog of animal facts is formatted as an advice column for animals penned by a sugar glider named Dr. Glider. Each spread covers a different species and features its own color palette, but "letters" to Glider are always green. The facts are interesting and unusual; they are also fairly random and interspersed with anthropomorphic traits such as a yoga-practicing owl and utensil-using crustaceans. Glider, who can effortlessly operate a submarine, can also travel from Kenya to Sweden to the South China Sea to Western Europe without a hitch. The narrator and advice seekers use informal, flippant slang, while informational captions use scientific language. Some of the vocabulary words are far beyond the first through third grade level at which this book is aimed. A glossary is included, but the book's haphazard arrangement discourages its use as a reference source for older readers. VERDICT An interesting enough find, but a poor resource.—Sheri Reda, Wilmette Public Library, IL

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Dr. Sugar Glider takes questions from various animal "patients" with occasionally punny results in this eye-opening tour of animal adaptations. Accompanied by Oswald's textured, watercolor-like digital illustrations, Dr. Glider's global caseload of 14 includes an aphid whose brother was kidnapped by ants for his honeydew secretions (a sidebar explains symbiosis), an overtired frigatebird who needs reminding that it can sleep while flying, and the crocodile of the title, which needs help digesting. In Oswald's animated scenes, Dr. Glider has her stethoscope at the ready while tending her oblivious patients variously on skis, using scuba gear, or via submarine (though a Tarzan outfit strikes an odd note). Four-panel sidebars consistently inform and surprise with animal facts, and a glossary reinforces new vocabulary. This kind of animal roundup isn't new, but with the help of the wisecracking Dr. Glider, Oswald and Keating's approach feels fresh and snappy. Ages 4-8. (May)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

Praise for Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating:

"A playful introduction to the kookier corners of the animal kingdom." — Booklist

"Keating maintains a casual tone while delivering intriguing details about each animal." — Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Bad Seed, illustrated by Pete Oswald:

"Working in digitized watercolors, Oswald makes this antihero's angst vivid and touching, and the world the seed moves in — a metropolis populated by seeds that include peanuts, coconuts, and corn kernels — adds a playful counterpoint of background detail and comedy." — Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Good Egg, illustrated by Pete Oswald:

* "Oswald's digitally composed, bright artwork pops with rib-tickling close-ups and character-building moments." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Jess Keating
Jess Keating is a zoologist-turned-author who writes with the sort of wisdom you can only get from multiple crocodile bites and skunk sprays. She's received oodles of state awards and starred reviews for her books, which include the World of Weird Animals nonfiction series and the biographies Shark Lady and Ocean Speaks. She also dabbles in illustration, has her own Youtube Channel, and runs a blog that's popular with teachers and librarians for its exploration of STEM subjects and the writing process. Jess lives with her husband in Ontario, Canada.

Michelle Mee Nutter graduated with a BFA in Illustration from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her work has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, 3x3 Illustration, Creative Quarterly and she is the illustrator of the graphic novel Allergic. Nutter lives in Boston, Mass.
Classification
Non-fiction
ISBN-13
9781338239881
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Orchard Books
Publication date
May 05, 2020
Series
Dr. Glider
BISAC categories
JNF003140 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Mammals
JNF003160 - Juvenile Nonfiction | Animals | Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Squirrels, etc
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Animals
Picture books
Physicians
Picture books for children
Humorous fiction
Opossums
Sugar glider

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