And the Winner Is ...

As this informational picture book by award-winning author Etta Kaner begins, sportscasters Walrus and Cockatoo are setting the stage: “Welcome to the World Animal Games --- that's WAG for short. Top athletes from habitats around the world will be competing for the gold! Exciting, isn't it, Cockatoo?” Along with some comic relief, the pair then provide the play-by-play for the seven sporting events covered in the book. With a total of twenty-eight animals competing, each event, from high jump to weight lifting and swimming, pits a different group of four against one another. Readers are given “stats” for each competitor and are invited to guess who will win. Then they turn the page and find out who won and, importantly, why. They also learn how the winner compares, proportionally, to the best human achievement in that skill. Besides the funny, wisecracking banter between Walrus and Cockatoo, further entertainment is provided in the lively illustrations by David Anderson, as well as in the silly puns. For example, a chicken calls out, “Foul play!” while a goat exclaims, “You've got to be kidding!” This book will be hugely appealing to those children who love to learn facts about the strongest, highest and fastest. In the classroom, it's a perfect introduction to science lessons on living things and their characteristics, with the interactive guessing element a great way to keep children engaged. It also works as a read-aloud during major sporting events such as the Olympics.