Zig and Wikki in the Cow (Toon Books Level 3)

Gr 2-3--Zig and Wikki are back in a new adventure. While in space, Zig discovers that his pet fly is sick. With the help of Wikki's information screen, he figures out that the fly misses Earth and would be happiest living on a farm. The two pals travel to Earth and look for the perfect dung patty to make his new home. Somewhere along the way, a cow eats their spaceship, so the pair must travel inside the animal to retrieve it, and when the cow burps it out, they're off. The panels of this eye-catching graphic novel are interspersed with boxes that give information about the digestive system of a cow, as well as how things like dung beetles and soil factor into the planet's ecology. A concluding page with "Wikki's Fun Facts" explains, among other things, that "each day, a cow burps out about 400 times more gas than a human does." Zig and Wikki's familiar odd-couple friendship serves as the framework for this science book in disguise. A humorously educational spin on subject matter that is scientifically important, if slightly gross.--Rita Meade, Brooklyn Public Library, NY