Caroline Arnold is the author of more than one hundred books for
children, most of them about science and nature.Books by Caroline
Arnold include,Too Hot? Too Cold? Keeping Body Temperature Just
Right,Shockers of the Sea,African Animals(Morrow Junior Books),
andDinosaur Mountain(Clarion Books), which was named an ALA Notable
Book.
In addition to writing, Caroline spends much of her time reading,
gardening, and traveling. She visits many elementary schools
telling children about her books and encouraging them to read and
write. Caroline also teaches part-time in the Writers' Program at
UCLA Extension School.
Caroline lives in Los Angeles, California.
♦ It's a lucky kindergartner who gets to witness the miracle of
life through the incubation of eggs.
White kindergarten teacher Mrs. Best raises chickens at home and is
teaching her diverse group of students about chickens and eggs. In
brilliant close-up photographs, readers see the students' wide-eyed
faces as they learn about incubation, the parts of the egg, the egg
tooth, and everything else about the 21-day cycle from egg to
chick. The easy-to-read narrative follows the days to hatching and
the first weeks of life in the classroom. On many pages, the
classroom story is supplemented by scientific information set in
faux hand-written type in egg-shaped callouts. Teachers who are
contemplating bringing eggs (and their eventful chicks) into the
classroom will learn much here. Ample backmatter will help to
answer any additional chicken questions for the especially
interested teacher or student, including some tricky ones. For
example, she broaches the truth that only 50 to 80 percent of
incubated eggs hatch, and she makes it clear that chicks are not
good house pets.
Arnold captures the joy and mystery of this familiar unit of study.
(glossary, websites, bibliography).
—Kirkus Reviews
♦ Through photographs and direct, unadorned writing, Arnold (Living
Fossils) takes readers to a (real-life) kindergarten class in Los
Angeles, where the teacher, Mrs. Best, brings in eggs from the
chickens she keeps at home. As the children tend to the eggs,
keeping track of the 21-day incubation cycle on a calendar, readers
learn about the parts of an egg and how chick develops inside.
Finally, the eggs begin to hatch: "Little by little, the shell
begins to crack. It is like unzipping a zipper." Arnold's
photographs clearly show the children observing, feeding, and
learning how to hold the chicks, which eventually return to Mrs.
Best's house. A glossary and answers to common questions ("When you
eat an egg, are you eating a baby chick?" "Do chickens make good
pets?") conclude this up-close look at where chickens—and their
eggs—come from.
—Publishers Weekly
♦ Readers are in for a treat as they join Mrs. Best and her
kindergarten class for their egg-hatching project, aka the most
adorable class project ever. Mrs. best has brought a variety of
chicken eggs—brown, white, speckled—from her backyard coop to an
incubator in her classroom in order to teach her students about how
chicks grow. The informative text is augmented by copious photo
illustrations, including a diagram of the different parts of an
egg, a demonstration of candling (placing a fertilized egg over a
light to see inside it), and eventually the fluffy chicks
themselves. The book documents how Mrs. Best's diverse class counts
down the 21 days until the eggs hatch, the hatching process, and
the first month of the chicks' lives, detailing their care and
growth, and nesting quick facts in egg-shaped ovals throughout.
Readers will come away with a good understanding of chickens'
origins and will likely want to rush off to hatch an egg of
their own, but Arnold wisely cautions that chickens do not make
good pets.
—Booklist
♦This photoessay follows Los Angeles kindergarten teacher Jennifer
Best as she shares her enthusiasm for raising chickens with her
young students. Best brings in the fertilized eggs and an
incubator, and over the next two months the kids (and, by
extension, Arnold's audience) learn about and observe first hand
the development of the embryos, the exhausting work of hatching,
and the first weeks of the chicks' lives. The chonological
narration keeps readers invested, while egg-shaped insets add
information or context as needed. It's close-up photographs,
though, that will make this a class pleaser, with views of
hardware, cages and feed, eggs cracking open, and of course
bedraggles little hatchlings and the adorable little fluffballs
they become. A Q&A on all things chicken, a glossary, and lists
of kid-friendly print and online resources are included.
Forward-thinking carnivores in the audience may wonder what will
happen to these chicks, but Arnold simply concludes, "In about five
months the roosters will be able to crow. The hens will start
laying eggs. Perhaps next year some of their eggs will come back to
school and hatch into new chicks." Fair enough.
—BCCB Reviews
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