In My Backyard

by Valarie Giogas

Baby dogs are puppies and they belong to a litter, but what is a baby skunk called and what is the name of its family group? This clever, rhythmic story tells us just that! Counting from one to 10, familiar backyard animals are introduced by baby and family group name. Each stanza also tells a bit more about each animal by providing clues as to what they eat, how they sound or where they live. The -For Creative Minds- section includes more animal fun facts, information on keeping a nature journal and how to watch for wildlife in your own backyard.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Nature, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

A sweet simple review of what one finds in one's backyard. . . .a picture book perfect to start our reading session.

[Dianne Butts · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun little book with different kinds of animals, counting, and rhyming.

One drawback was it had 3 pups, 6 pups, and 9 pups. I could tell what the 9 pups were, but not the 3 or 6 pups. At least they have the answers in the back of the book with more information about each of the animals.

I was a little surprised at some of the themes, like snakes, poop, and dealing with injured or dead animals in the back. That seemed a little too mature for the young children this book is intended for.

I enjoyed the illustrations and at the back it shows a cutout of each animal in the illustrations -- such as a closeup of all the nymphs or snakes, in case you couldn't spot them all in the illustration.

A nice book to read to young kids.

[Terry]

Read our review at the Reading Tub.

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Good illustrations and more importantly people can finally learn that porcupines have pups and snakes have hatchlings. Simple with a light rhyme.

[Zack Reagin]

I have been reading Spanish children's books to improve my Spanish. This one was helpful because it was written to teach new words to children, so I picked up many new words from reading it.

[Shelby M.]

In my backyard is a book that describes the different things that are often home not too far from home. The book rhymes and explores the different animals that can be found in the forest or in someone own home.

1) Teaching student how to rhyme
2) Can talk about the things that students find in their backyard
3) Learning how to count for the younger students
4) Talk about physical differences between animals shown in the book
5) Student can discover their own backyard and take pictures of animals or bug that they found