Nicole's Readers' Advisory Blog

  Crossings: Extraordinary Structures for Extraordinary Animals (2020) Written by: Katy S. Duffield Illustrated by: Mike Orodan Publisher: Beach Lane Books Book type: Picture book Ages: 3-8 years Lexile level: AD1080L Summary Crossings is a book which asks readers to consider the structures built for people to travel from one place to another and how these structures impact the wildlife in these areas, “... overpasses, underpasses, bridges, and tunnels… But what about the animals that live in these places?” Readers learn that animal-loving researchers and engineers from all over the world work together to design and create structures specifically for animals to cross. The Trans-Canada Highway, for example, has more than forty wildlife overpasses and underpasses which are used by animals such as elk, bears, wolves, cougars, and bighorn sheep. In New Zealand, a lighted underpass was created for the blue penguins of Oamaru so they could safely travel back-and-forth between the s...

Titanosaur: Discovering the World’s Largest Dinosaur (2019) Written by: Dr. Jose Luis Carballido & Dr. Diego Pol Illustrated by: Florencia Gigena Publisher: Scholastic Press Book type: Picture book Ages: 5-7 years Lexile level: 930 Summary Titanosaur begins in Patagonia, Argentina where a gaucho (shepherd) and his sheepdog discover something unusual poking out of the dirt on the gaucho’s ranch. A few months pass, and the gaucho visits a museum in town. He observes a dinosaur skeleton display and mentions to someone at the front desk that he found a similar kind of bone on his ranch, but it was much bigger. The museum’s two paleontologists, Diego and Jose, speak with the gaucho and make arrangements to visit his ranch. Diego and Jose determine that the unusual object is, indeed, a dinosaur bone. They return with a team of people to dig up the bone. The bone they uncover is a seven foot, ten inch long femur bone, bigger than any other dinosaur bone the team has ever seen. Diego...