How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships

"These fascinating stories from the natural world will easily interest young people, many of whom will want to move on from the appended notes about each featured critter to more in-depth titles that further explain the mysteries of animal symbiosis."--Booklist, starred review

K-Gr 3This book introduces readers to symbiosis, focusing on relationships in which each partner benefits from the collaboration. While readers may be familiar with birds that groom mammals or small fish that clean bigger ones, more unusual pairings include the boxer crab, which can pluck poisonous anemone, use them as lethal pom-poms with which to chase away larger prey, and then return the favor with stray scraps of food dropped from its imprecise claws. The book concludes with a relationship that will be familiar to many readersthat of humans and dogs. It is a nice way to expand the topic into the domestic sphere, as well as highlighting an area in which the relationship between humans and animals is mutually beneficial, and not simply tilted in our favor. Jenkins's trademark collage illustrations continue to impress with their vibrant and stunning manipulation of cut and torn paper. The book is formatted in a block, comic-book style and is written at a level that is accessible to young browsers yet suitable for older researchers. Supplementary information about the size, habitat, and diet of each animal is included in the back matter. This title is another outstanding offering from this extraordinarily talented, wonderfully symbiotic couple."Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MA" Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Who better than a husband and wife team to spotlight intriguing partnerships in nature? Among the many relationships Jenkins and Page ("How Many Ways Can You Catch a Fly?") explore is that of the upside-down jellyfish and the crab it lives upon. The jellyfishs stinging tentacles provide protection in return for crab meal leftovers. Jenkinss meticulous cut-paper illustrations, as eye-catching as ever, reveal fascinating stories of animal symbiosis on each page. The paneled layoutgraphic novel styleoffers a dynamic format for these concise, present-tense stories of mutualism, complete with catchy titles. Dinner is served reads the spread about a seagull and a sunfish (the massive sunfish attracts the seagull with its fin, and in turn the bird eats parasites living on the fish). Closeups, aerial views, and vignettes of animals realistically rendered in Jenkinss trademark collage have a cinematic quality. An author note about the different types of symbiotic relationships, as well as appended pages detailing each animals size, habitat, and diet, reinforce the books value as a scientific introduction to the topic. Ages 69. "(May)" Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.

"These fascinating stories from the natural world will easily interest young people, many of whom will want to move on from the appended notes about each featured critter to more in-depth titles that further explain the mysteries of animal symbiosis."—Booklist, starred review

"Jenkins's trademark collage illustrations continue to impress with their vibrant and stunning manipulation of cut and torn paper. The book is formatted in a block, comic-book style and is written at a level that is accessible to young browsers yet suitable for older researchers. Supplementary information about the size, habitat, and diet of each animal is included in the back matter. This title is another outstanding offering from this extraordinarily talented, wonderfully symbiotic couple."—School Library Journal, starred review

"Who better than a husband and wife team to spotlight intriguing partnerships in nature...Closeups, aerial views, and vignettes of animals realistically rendered in Jenkins's trademark collage have a cinematic quality. An author note about the different types of symbiotic relationships, as well as appended pages detailing each animal's size, habitat, and diet, reinforce the book's value as a scientific introduction to the topic."—Publishers Weekly