Step Inside!: A Look Inside Animal Homes - Hardcover

There are no bricks or shingles used to build the homes featured in this title. Instead, animals set up camp in a variety of ways, and in rhyming poems and vibrant, close-up photographs, this picture book introduces a multitude of animal habitats, from subterranean abodes to treetop nests. The rhymes don't always scan: "Warthogs love a mudbath / It keeps them cool and clean / They'll let a mongoose pick off ticks . . . / A useful mobile canteen!" Still, the information is accessibly presented, and headlines on each page will lead young readers into the text with clues to featured animals, such as "Treehugger" (frog) and "Log Cabin" (yup, beavers), although some phrases may confuse children; "Cat on a Hot Thin Roof," for example, refers to a poem about termites. There are lots of homes to explore here, and interested kids may be hooked enough to burrow deeper. Pair this with Irene Kelly's Even an Octopus Needs a Home (2011).
--Booklist

Catherine Ham has once again penned an informative read for children. Colorful pictures ranging from termites to elephants should delight our young readers. These extremely sharp, bright photos are poetically described in a fun and easy to read narrative. The proper name of each creature is printed clearly on the outside corner of its page, thus making Ham's "kid friendly" index even more helpful for eager readers. Children will learn how even "pesty" bugs have a good side. Because of the vast variety of Ham's selection I feel most children would enjoy this book, it truly holds its own with her previous book "Animal Naps".
--Kutztown University

From crevices and pits to bubble nests and trick tunnels, dozens of animal homes are presented in full-color photographs, while their home-building and home-living behaviors are explored in playful verse.