North and South: A tale of two hemispheres by Sandra Morris

  Sandra Morris, not to be confused with Sandra Markle, has created several lovely, nature-rich nonfiction books and this latest is a lovely gem. It focuses on a variety of animals around the world and how they adapt to life in their opposing hemispheres.

The endpages are covered with maps, detailing the different animals highlighted in the book, with a few animals on each continent and a larger number from Australasia, not surprising since Morris is a New Zealander.

The introduction to the book explains in careful detail the corresponding seasons, both winter, spring, summer and fall and wet and dry seasons, in the northern and southern hemispheres. There is also a key identifying the conservation status of the animals and a reminder that this is their general habitat, not including migration and other movements.

The book is arranged into the twelve months of the year and contrasts a behavior from the two hemispheres. So for January, the theme is camouflage and we learn about the Scottish ptarmigan and mountain hare from the northern hemisphere (Scotland) and the green tree python (Australia). February shows how two animals, Japanese macaques and lesser flamingos respond to extreme environments. This continues throughout the months and seasons, with how crocodiles and polar bears care for their young, beavers and hoatzins building homes, stag beetles and leatherback turtles' armor, and more.

Each spread is illustrated with watercolors showing the animals, a small map pinpointing their location, and pastel highlights striping the pages and creating green and brown backgrounds behind the animals. There are shorter sentences and paragraphs accompanying the illustrations with a longer sidebar of information, making this work both as a read-aloud and a browsing book for a variety of elementary school reading levels and interests. Back matter includes a glossary, index, some general websites, and some the obligatory vague suggestions on conservation and combating climate change.

Verdict: Pair this with Animal Antipodes by Carly Allan-Fletcher for an interesting lesson on how seasons - and animals - change around the world or just enjoy the interesting animal anecdotes and attractive art in this informative picture book.

ISBN: 9781536204599; Published July 2021 by Candlewick; Review copy provided by the publisher