Best Foot Forward - Nonfiction Monday

Best Foot Forward: Exploring Feet, Flippers, and Claws
by Ingo Arndt
36 pages; ages 3 - 8
Holiday House, 2013

Got feet? So do tigers and beetles and ostriches and monkeys. Feet made for walking. Feet made for climbing. Feet made for swimming, and digging, and leaping.

Photographer Ingo Arndt takes us on a tour of feet around the animal kingdom, starting with a photo of a furry foot with claws.

"Whose foot is this?" he asks. Turn the page and you learn that it's a Tiger's foot. Those soft, cushioned pads allow the tiger to creep up ve-e-ery quietly on its prey.

"Animals have very different feet depending on whether they are big or small, go fast or slow, or travel on the ground, in water, or high in the tops of trees," writes Arndt. He fills the pages with stunning close-ups of ostrich toes and gecko toes, kangaroo feet, lobster claes, starfish tube feet and even caterpillar feet.

Arndt ends with a photo of his foot, bringing the world foot tour back home where kids can take off their shoes and socks and take a closer look at their marvelous feet. From the endpages to the index, this is a fun book to browse and share with a curious young naturalist.

Today is Nonfiction Monday.  That means that bloggers who love children's nonfiction will share the cool books they are reading. It also means that teachers, parents, librarians and even older brothers and sisters can check out what cool nonfiction books are out there. Leave your links in the comments and I'll post 'em here as I get time.
Review copy provided by publisher. 

What others are reading for Nonfiction Monday:

Over at Archimedes Notebook, a review of Dawn Cusick's Get the Scoop on Animal Poop.

Jeff's got a review of  Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich on his NC Teacher Stuff blog.

Check out Alice McGinty's newest book, Gahndi: A March to the Sea at Ms Mac's blog, Check It Out.

True Tales & a Cherry on Top is featuring a new writing book: Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub (and yeah, I wish I had a book like this when I was in 5th grade...)

Ms. Yingling Reads has posted a short review of David Macaulay's short book, Toilet: How it works.

Roberta's posted a review of Robots, Robots Everywhere by Sue Fleiss over at Wrapped in Foil. It may look like fiction, but it's not.

Carmen's posted a review of The Cart that Carried Martin by Eve Bunting over at  One Word at a Time.

Check out the review of Tapir Scientist by Sy Montgomery over at Jean Little Library.

If you're looking for the "truth of the matter", then hop over to Apples with Many Seeds for a thought-provoking review of Jemmy Button by Jennifer Uman and Valerio Vidali.

Anastasia Suen's posted a review of Meat-Eating Plants, Toothless Wonders by Ellen Lawrence over at Booktalking.

Janet reviews The Elephant Scientist by Caitlin O'Connell over at All About the Books.

Lynn and Cindy have posted a couple of reviews - along with how the books fit into common core standards - over at Bookends: Frog Song, by Brenda Z. Guiberson, and Best Foot Forward.


And lest we forget, Laura Purdee Salas has posted a reminder for people to nominate their favorite nonfiction books for the Cybils Awards.

Enjoy these, and other nonfiction books while reading to children... or to yourself!