ISBN 0785329080 - This little pillowed hardcover is about pocket-sized and great for taking along when you're out and about - especially if you're going to the zoo! Really informative non-fiction titles for very young readers are hard to find and this one, by Sarah Toast, is full of good information that will fascinate and educate young ones.

Mother Panda (who doesn't seem to be a mother just yet) lives in the mountains of China and spends most of her time looking for food in the form of bamboo. She must eat a great deal of bamboo to get the energy she needs, so she travels a great distance and has more than one den to sleep in. She gives birth to Baby Panda and raises him, teaching him everything he will need to know.

There are a few odd things here, nothing major. The first several pages go on about how hard it is for a panda to find enough food to eat, but as winter approaches, the author says "Mother Panda will be able to find plenty to eat during the winter." That just seems contradictory. Even though the book features "Mother Panda" and "Baby Panda", the story is factual and tells about the way they live – until the very last page, which has Baby Panda doing "a handspring to show his delight" with his first snowfall - a bit of silliness that, while it might amuse a child, detracts from the overall believability of the book. The illustrations by Debbie Pinkney are simple and several remind me of popular Chinese prints of pandas. Worth a try, this sneaky way to educate your little reader while he or she just thinks it's a cute little book.

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )