Habitats

Where is my Home?

Written by Tali Carmi

Illustrated by Mindi Liang

Self-published, 2013

33 pages 

Picture book

   Terry Treetop sees a beautiful butterfly and begins to chase him. Before he knows it, he is hungry, scared, and far away from home. Fortunately, Terry meets some animals along the way that help him. Can the beaver in the lodge guide him home? Or maybe the rabbit in the burrow?

   Mindi Liang beautifully illustrates Terry Treetops journey from home and back. The colors are bright and creates a cheerful tone to an unsettling story about a lost little boy. Young readers also see an accurate depiction of different animal habitats throughout the story. 

    In a second grade classroom, this book would be a wonderful introduction to the various ecosystems. After the ecosystem lesson, each child could draw or create a model of a given animal's natural habitat. Another fun activity would be matching pictures of animals to their corresponding ecosystems, drawn by the students.

Second Grade Science Standard 7. Obtain information from literature and other media to illustrate that there are many different kinds of living things and that they exist in different places on land and in water (e.g., woodland, tundra, desert, rainforest, ocean, river).

   
   I believe students will find themselves quickly engaged in this book about getting to far away from home. I remember finding myself, as a little girl, too far away from my mom in the grocery store and several children in the classroom could probably share similar stories. However, it is exciting to see what kind of animal habitat Terry will reach next to help him find his way back home.