No One Told the Aardvark

by Deborah Eaton, Jim Spence (Illustrator), Susan Halter

Tired of being told what to do? Take some lessons from the animal kingdom! In this whimsical look at animal behavior, the young narrator is always being told what to do. His grandfather says, "Clean up that room." And his little sister tells him not to stick out his tongue. They just don't understand. So, he tells them--a hermit crab doesn't have to clean up its room; it just finds a new one. And an aardvark . . . maybe no one told the aardvark that it's not polite to stick out your tongue! Bright, entertaining illustrations bring each comparison to life, and fascinating facts about twelve animals are included at the end of this clever, amusing tale.

32 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1981

Reviews

[Maggie]

Comparing human actions to animal actions makes the reader think about the many different ways humans and animals do the somethings just in different ways.

I believe that this book should be read to students or read by students because it provides interesting facts about how certain animals would do the same action as the little boy in the story. The last page of the book the little boy is talking about how he wants to be all of those animals and says "I wonder sometimes if they wish they were me." I think this is a good quote, because it makes the reader think.

I could use this book in my classroom to introduce different animals to the students and also use it to introduce the concept of compare and contrast. The quote "I wonder sometimes if they wish they were me" could be used as sentence started for a writing piece. It would allow the students to create a fictitious story about animals wanting to become humans.