Gecko

K-Gr 3--This title will amaze and engage readers as they learn everything there is to know about geckos. Each spread has an illustration, a line about what the gecko is doing, and in a different font, informational text about geckos. Our gecko travels through his world, eating and making sure he doesn't get eaten by one of his many predators. This is essentially one day in the life of a gecko. The gecko keeps itself clean, hunts for food, watches out for predators, sheds its skin--which it then eats--and loses its tail while escaping from a rat. The engaging narrative is simple blocks of text with an occasional large type exclamation: "Crunch!" such as when the gecko bites a cockroach. Back matter includes a short "More about Geckos" and an index that highlights both the fiction and nonfiction within the text. The illustrations are bright and colorful and bring geckos to life. Readers can often sense the quick movements of this animal through the illustrations. The blue gecko with orange spots stands out in lush greenery done in colored pencil, acrylic ink, and watercolor. This is a book that can be shared with readers of many age levels. A younger reader might enjoy the story line while a slightly older reader will be captivated by the information. From the cover with gecko "climbing" through the title "Gecko" until the end when gecko loses his tail to the rat but eats the predator's leftovers, a thoughtful, colorful, and informative title. VERDICT A must-have for younger nonfiction shelves.--Susan Lissim, Dwight School, New York City

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Brian Lovelock's ink, colored-pencil and watercolor pictures work in beautiful tandem with Raymond Huber's text to describe the capacities of an extraordinary creature...Large type describes the doings of the amber-eyed, orange-spotted blue Tokay gecko that appears in Mr. Lovelock's pictures. Paragraphs
—The Wall Street Journal

With a wonderful economy of words, Huber offers us a gecko perspective, starting with: "Gecko peeks out of a crack in the cliff. All clear....There are many dangers in the daylight, and Gecko is on high alert." Each page includes additional information about the gecko in a different typeface. Lovelock's dazzling illustrations are done in watercolor, acrylic ink and colored pencil.
—Buffalo News