LoveReading4Kids Says
November 2023 Book of the Month
The little brown nut that is the subject of this picture book is a Brazil nut, and its story opens up the whole Amazon rainforest for readers.
We learn about the life of a Brazil nut tree from the moment the hard fruit containing nuts falls to the forest floor. An agouti opens it – it’s just about the only animal that can – and, squirrel-like, buries some of the nuts in the ground. As the seed germinates, a tree starts to grow, up through the forest floor, to the understory, providing a home for insects, birds and animals, finally growing through the rainforest canopy.
Each page is full of facts and information, carefully presented in age-appropriate text and clear, bright illustrations. A fold-out poster at the end illustrates the little brown nut’s life cycle, and also includes a map of South America and another showing rainforests of the world, while an Amazon I-Spy, challenges readers to find wild creatures that have appeared throughout the book – harpy eagle, assassin bug, tapir.
It’s a fascinating story, told in a way that will catch young reader’s attention and fire their interest in the rainforest.
Andrea Reece
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Little, Brown Nut Synopsis
Start Small, Think Big is a series that sets young readers on a journey of discovery, beginning from the small and familiar to new areas of knowledge where they really have to think big!
Little Brown Nut starts small, with a large, weighty fruit falling from the tallest tree in the Amazon rainforest. Inside is a little brown Brazil nut, surrounded by 19 others. It sits and waits for an agouti, a rodent with teeth so strong that it can free the nut from its hard casing.
The story of the Brazil nut tree and the agouti is told clearly and carefully, with facts about germination, photosynthesis, seed dispersal. The narrative progresses in a way that builds understanding and the gorgeous illustrations bring the story and the science to life.
Thinking BIG, the book shows why the rainforest is important to local people and the wider world. A big fold-out has a world map, an at-a-glance lifecycle, and a Rainforest I-Spy of the animals to take children back into the book.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781739774882 |
| Publication date: |
1st November 2023 |
| Author: |
Mary Auld |
| Illustrator: |
Dawn Cooper |
| Publisher: |
Mama Makes Books |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
28 pages |
| Series: |
Start Small, Think Big |
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About Mary Auld
Mary Auld is an award-winning writer of children's information books, most notably How To Build an Orchestra with the London Symphony Orchestra. Mary Auld is a pen name for Rachel Cooke, former Editorial Director at Hachette and an honorary fellow of the English Association in recognition of her work in children's non-fiction.
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