Dear Wandering Wildebeest - by Irene Latham (Hardcover)

About the Book

Spend a day at a water hole on the African grasslands. From dawn to nightfall, animals come and go. Giraffes gulp, wildebeests graze, impalas leap, vultures squabble, and elephants wallow. Irene Latham's gorgeous poems are accompanied by additional facts that provide further details about the animals and their environment. Imaginative illustrations from Anna Wadham complete this delightful collection.

Book Synopsis

Welcome wildebeest / and beetle, / Oxpecker and lion. / This water hole is yours. / It offers you oasis / beside its shrinking shores.

Spend a day at a water hole on the African grasslands. From dawn to nightfall, animals come and go. Giraffes gulp, wildebeest graze, impalas leap, vultures squabble, and elephants wallow. Fact sidebars support the poems about the animals and their environment. Imaginative illustrations from Anna Wadham complete this delightful collection.

Review Quotes

"[F]un, descriptive poems about intriguing animals...presented in an entertaining, light manner with playful illustrations."―Library Media Connection

-- (3/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"A fine volume of verse for independent reading or sharing with a class." --Booklist

-- (12/15/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"An assured and often amusing grouping of verse that informs as it entertains." --Publishers Weekly

-- (9/8/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"Fifteen poems capture the denizens of the African water hole, from impalas and elephants to oxpecker birds and dung beetles. Entries vary between rhymed and unrhymed, but all are compact, rhythmic, and short-lined, with frequent tasty soundplay ('white tackles/ in a rugby tangle') that will enhance readaloud pleasure." --The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

-- (1/1/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Latham's finely crafted verse, at once humorous and serious, dazzlingly opens the imagination to the wilds of the world. Enlightening and engaging, a thrilling panorama of the diversity to be found throughout the animal kingdom." --starred, Kirkus Reviews

-- (7/15/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"This will be a much-sought-after book for teaching reading and inquiry skills.... A strong choice." --starred, School Library Journal

-- (7/1/2014 12:00:00 AM)