Ronald N. Rood (1920–2001)

This chapter book, about 60 pages in length, is a great one for higher elementary or middle school grades. It is great because it is in a question-answer format within each chapter. For example, the chapter will be titled "A Young Insects World," and within that chapter it'll propose the question, "Why are most insects orphans?". This provides scaffolding for readers beginning to work on reading chapter books by breaking up the text and giving visual breaks that most chapter books do not provide.
From this book, I could teach how to use text features to provide context for reading. It is not as intense as a textbook, so it provides students with a more familiar context of unfamiliar topics.
This would be a great book to introduce the middle of the school year.… (meer)

As a child and young adult, I had a fascination and love of animals. At some point in the early 1970's I purchased and read a book, "Animals Nobody Loves". I kept it in my library for a number of years, but at some point lost it or gave it away, I don't recall which.

Upon rereading this book, I discovered that it was still a fascinating look into the lives of the less-than-cute denizens of this world. The author delves deeply into each animal subject he has chosen for this work, but always in a manner that is easily read and enjoyed. He also illustrates each chapter with his own personal experiences, which adds to the appeal of the stories.

Some of the commentary is a little dated (discussing bounty laws no longer on the books), but overall this was an informative and entertaining read. Recommended.… (meer)