Funny homes by Dr Mark Norman

Black Dog Books, 2014. ISBN 9781922179982
(Age: 6+) Recommended. Animals, Habitat. The habitats of two dozen animals ranging from rock wallabies to crabs, cactus wrens and moles, a ray and a sea cucumber, each is given a spectacular photograph to show its environment as well as its place of residence, and a paragraph of information suggesting why it lives in such a place.
So we see the sloth, hanging from its favourite branches in the tree tops by its amazing claw, so well adapted that it has difficulty walking on the ground, or the oxpeckker, a bird which lives on the zebra's back, picking off the fleas, or the two animals without eyes that lives far beneath the surface of the ocean. Readers will love reading of these odd creatures finding a home which suits them best. And the stunning photographs will draw them to look more closely at the animal and its place of residence.
At the end are two pages with information about eleven of the animals mentioned, giving their correct name and where they are to be found in the world, followed by a brief glossary and serviceable index.
The third in the series by Dr Mark Norman, this book follows Funny bums and Funny faces, and will be eagerly sought out in libraries and classrooms where animals are under discussion. Dr Mark Norman is a marine biologist who works at the University of Melbourne and Museum Victoria, and has won significant acclaim for his books for younger readers. The Great Barrier Reef book : solar powered won the Environment Award for Children's Literature from the Wilderness Society in 2010, amongst others.
Fran Knight