By Carly Smith
Rod Campbell, creator of Dear Zoo and Oh Dear! brings readers Look After Us, an interactive children’s book focusing on endangered animals. In this book, Campbell introduces his younger audience to animals whose populations are depleting. He presents a beautiful and necessary message—that humans are responsible for taking care of all animals, including wild ones.
The format of this book is consistent and predictable, making it suitable for emergent readers reading with an experienced reader, or for children who are drawn to patterns. On the left side of each spread, with the exception of the beginning and end of the book, is a small paragraph that introduces a new animal. On the right side of the spread is a flap with the animal’s habitat on the outer part, and the animal in focus behind the flap. Below each flap is a bit more text which encourages the reader to help endangered animals. The consistency Campbell creates by formatting the images and text this way supports new readers to infer, a great skill to develop early on and one which also helps maintain interest in the reading material. Another aspect of this book I was drawn to was the repetition of words and syntax; this is beneficial for readers encountering unfamiliar words, or for those who can remember what is being read and wish to join in with the person reading it to them. Moreover, the font is clear and representative of the way letters are taught and learned in school, making the pages even more accessible to a younger audience.
The illustrations in Look After Us offer additional opportunities for enjoyment, learning, and discussion. Firstly, the animals are drawn in their natural landscape. This can spark follow-up questions and comments, and may help with reading comprehension. There is also an option to take the discussion one step further and encourage numeracy skills. For example, the experienced reader could ask questions to the child about how many of each animal there are, what body parts some animals have more or less of compared to the other endangered animals in the book, or by posing questions about the landscapes to prompt estimation. Overall, Look After Us provides numerous occasions for readers to enhance not only decoding skills, but also comprehension, oral communication, and math skills.
There are some additional features that I enjoyed about the physical copy of this book, including its size and the durability of the pages and the flaps. It’s large enough that it will not get lost in a large collection of children’s books, but not too large that it cannot easily fit in a diaper bag or stroller pouch. Look After Us is a charming book, sure to be a hit with any toddler or child, especially those interested in animals or who are developing their fine motor skills.