Run for Your Life!: Predators and Prey on the African Savanna

by Lola M. Schaefer, Paul Meisel

A day on the African savanna is like a game of hide-and-seek with deadly consequences. Fierce, predatory animals chase down weaker creatures for food, while their targets scatter to avoid ending up as lunch. We see animals of all sizes on their quest for a meal, leading up to a climactic face-off with some hungry Run for your life! Backmatter includes average sprint speeds for the animals mentioned in the book.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Nature, Nonfiction, Africa, Childrens, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2016

About the author

Lola M. Schaefer is an educator, writer, and gardener, and the author of many acclaimed books for children about math, art, science, technology, animals, and nature. She uses shovels, hoes, rakes, and scissors when she works in her garden. Lola M. Shaefer grew up in Indiana, and now lives in northern Georgia.

Reviews

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork allows for great conversation between young children and their care-givers. Vivid vocabulary used for the way animals move will extend the learning of readers and back matter provides interesting facts about the speed of animals living on the savanna. However, without more supplemental pages containing food webs, animal facts, etc., the age range for using this book is likely limited to only 3-6 year olds.

[Elisabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great vocabulary choices! I don't think it had such a great narrative though -- I can't imagine a kiddo wanting to re-read this.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great vocabulary, lovely illustrations - I would have liked a few more facts and/or back matter.

[Mackenzi Knoll · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about African Savanna animals and their predators and prey. We learn about what animals go for other animals and how they do so. It tells what these African animals do and how they do it in their hectic natural environments. I'd use this book to teach children about these animals in the African Savanna and help them understand what predators and prey are.

[Rolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is nice, but the premise of the book (identifying some animals as prey and others as predators) isn't really accomplished very well by the text. Lots of animals are involved, but they aren't identified as predators or prey, and their relationships to each other aren't clarified very well.

Nice art, though.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received an F&G of this book at an ALA conference.

[Cecilia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations definitely make this book a good flip through. It's definitely introductory in subject, but has, as others have stated, great vocabulary.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book!! Wonderful vocabulary words and words to act out!

[Brandy T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Food chain.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book to introduce young readers to a habitat across the world, the African Savanna. Lola Schaefer uses few words in this tale and she introduces two new terms to learn: "predator" and "prey". The story begins and ends with the animals asleep. And then they wake up and the fun begins! Each page shows a specific animal running, leaping, galloping away from its enemy, i.e. running for its life! The words are lyrical, sometimes rhyming: "Eagles swoop, and hares hop" and "Wild dogs rush, and zebras stampede."
Paul Meisel fills the pages with action, showing the animals' movement, exciting against the brown and tan background of the savanna. There is additional information giving the sprint speeds of each animal mentioned in the book. Did you know that the black mamba snake is the fastest animal in the snake family? It can sprint (hard to imagine a snake sprinting!) up to 12.5 miles per hour. Of course the fastest on the ground is the cheetah, at 70 mph. But Schaefer also shares about the martial eagle, who dives at 100 mph! Wow!
The book is for younger students, but can be used for a study in using appropriate verbs to describe action and to say much in few words.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The watercolor and acrylic illustrations of animals who inhabit the African savanna are the stars in this picture book. The images show various species going about their business, resting peacefully until a predator arrives on the scene. Thus, the appearance of leopards, eagles, crocodiles, and jackals send various species scurrying for safety. All of this racing for safety or hunting for prey comes to a screeching halt once two lions simply lumber to their feet. Clearly, each species' strength and speed are relative, paling next to the lion who can move quickly. The book's back matter provides information about how fast each animal can sprint. While I liked the inclusion of so many different predators and their prey, some readers may be confused by how the book ends and will need an explanation as to why all those predators end up running for their lives in the end. Still, this book is a good introduction to the interconnection of various species.

[Mrs Mommy Booknerd http://mrsmommybooknerd.blogspot.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Run For Your Life: Predators and Prey on the African Savanna is a story that can be told through the beautiful illustrations or through the incredible story filled with action packed words. The animals come to life as they leap, hop and trot through the food chain in a life or death battle to survive another day. This book you can teach children about predictor verse prey, the food chain, speed of animals, camouflage and marking as a way of survival, various verbs or actions words, as well as day-to-day life for the animals of the savanna. There is so much that can be done with this book! Kids that love action, adventure and a bit of suspense with devour this book! An added bonus are the last two pages that contain the speeds in which animals of the savanna travel. I did not know a black mamba snake can travel 12.5 miles per hour! 5 stars

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lola Schaefer always does a nice job when it comes to nonfiction. In this case she teams with illustrator, Paul Meisel, to explore the African Savanna and the constant interplay of predator and prey there. They manage to do this through expressive watercolor illustrations and very simple text that, in a rhythmic pattern, consists mainly of a noun and a verb, linked as predator is linked to prey. When they get to the key predator--the lion, however, everything changes as all animals flee in fear. This would be a great book to start a discussion on predators and prey with younger students. A final appendix provides a table of animals and the speeds at which they can travel, in both miles and kilometers. This is a nice addition to the easy nonfiction collection.

[Clare Rossetter · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title is eye catching as is the cover art showing a zebra running from two hyenas. The narrative sets up the animals sleeping and then as they get up each day the hunt for food and the struggle to survive is replayed. As you turn the page each animal movement is described using some great words such as plunge and pitch. The text ends as it begins with the animals sleeping.
After the initial text there is a brief discussion of how speed and camouflage serve the animals on the savanna. There is also a comparison of how fast animals run. I used this information with my students and we did a visual graph with kids showing where they thought animal would be based on speed and then they pulled off sticky to see the actual speed and reline up if not in correct place.

[Hilary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spare text combined with illustrations employing a reserved palette chronicle a day in the life of animals living on the African savanna. From dawn until dusk, animals quest for food. Artist Paul Meisel skillfully merges the animals’ camouflage that permits creatures to blend into their surroundings, with double-page spreads of chase-and-flee scenes of predators and prey. Schaefer employs an impressive variety of verbs to describe the gaits of featured animals which are also widely varied. A table detailing the top speed animals can achieve when running is included at the end of the book.

Tie-ins with early childhood curriculum involving food chains, verbs, Africa, or wild animals will find this a useful springboard to discussion.

[Ro Menendez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A playful introduction to food chains and animal diversity in the African Savanna. It is also a wonderful example of how to describe movement, with a variety of verbs to express walking, running, jumping, in a fast, faster, fastest way depending on the animal being described. A surprise ending will have readers smiling as the direction in which animals are predating and fleeing changes. A list of the animals mentioned in the book with their top speeds is offered at the end, which provides the opportunity for some fun with math.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always love Lola Schaefer's books, but this one didn't hit the bullseye for me. Beautiful book, but I wanted the nonfiction narrative to do more. The premise is that lions are king on the African savanna, but it takes until the third to last page to find this out, and then - boom! - the book is done. Interesting backmatter about animals' rates of speed. Fantastic verbs. Gorgeous illustrations by Paul Meisel.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Predator-prey relationships are presented in rhythmic language as readers are introduced to the animals of the African savanna.

I appreciate all of the different vocabulary that is used to describe the movement each animal makes, and the inclusion of the list of animals shown in text with the speed at which each moves makes for fun facts. Watercolor and acrylic illustrations; PreK-2.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple, informative, visually pleasing introduction to animal that inhabit an African savanna.

[Jayce Senter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book with simple sentences. Good for discussion about animals & food chains.

[Shauna Yusko · Rating 3 out of 5]

PreK-K

[Beth P]

This book would be perfect at story times for young children. Vivid language like swoop, slither, lumber and lunge would be fun for young ones to act out. Would pair well with Draw! by Raul Colon.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not for very little children, but it is educational.