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Step-Up Books
Animals Do The Strangest Things
Vintage children's book
63 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1964
5 people are currently reading
90 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
January 27, 2019
This book covers 19 animals in varying degrees of depth. Some, like the sloth and the lemming, get only one page, while others, like the elephant and the gorilla, get six. By no means are these the equivalent of encyclopedia entries; they're just collections of curious facts, but that's OK. It's a good book for young readers that provides a lot of information on the variety of life on earth. Illustrations are serviceable - nothing special.
September 24, 2023
A fun blast from the past.
July 4, 2017
First of all this book is outdated so some information may not be factually correct at this time. With that exception the book is a good introduction to the world of animals.
Secondly the sections vary from one page to four. And each has plenty of pictures to accompany the text but not enough for very younger audiences who may find the book hard to follow with so much information presented at one time.
Secondly the sections vary from one page to four. And each has plenty of pictures to accompany the text but not enough for very younger audiences who may find the book hard to follow with so much information presented at one time.
November 6, 2018
About the Step-Up Books
Published in the 1960s and 1970s, they serve as a follow up series for students who have surpassed the reading level of the I Can Read books. They are simply narrated and have short sentences. They are broken into chapters that consist of about three pages usually. Pictures are throughout.
For the reading level that this is geared for, they are written well. I enjoyed the stories and the facts I learned from them. A good source for additional reading material for your beginning reader and good books to use to graduate your child from picture books to something more substantial.
Ages: 5+
Reading Level: 2nd - 3rd grades
Pages: approx. 50-90
How many titles: 38
Illustrations: full of illustrations and photographs
Price Range: $2 – $40 depending on the title and its rarity.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!
Visit my website!
Published in the 1960s and 1970s, they serve as a follow up series for students who have surpassed the reading level of the I Can Read books. They are simply narrated and have short sentences. They are broken into chapters that consist of about three pages usually. Pictures are throughout.
For the reading level that this is geared for, they are written well. I enjoyed the stories and the facts I learned from them. A good source for additional reading material for your beginning reader and good books to use to graduate your child from picture books to something more substantial.
Ages: 5+
Reading Level: 2nd - 3rd grades
Pages: approx. 50-90
How many titles: 38
Illustrations: full of illustrations and photographs
Price Range: $2 – $40 depending on the title and its rarity.
**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it!
Visit my website!
April 22, 2019
Every child is curious about animals. This book covers some strange facts about 19 (an odd number) different animals. The book touches on many unique facts from how hard it is for a giraffe to drink water, to how elephants take care of each other when they are hurt. The book seems to be intended for younger readers because of its large print and easy wording, but the reading level does not seem to match the word to picture ratio. It is east to read, but the text takes up from half to a whole page on every page.
There was a part in the book that struck me as odd and a bit unnecessary. in the section on bats, it says "Sometimes women are afraid of bats. They are afraid that bats will fly into their hair. But this almost never happens." But, this was also published in 1964. Even with some of these strange features and the date of the book, I remember reading them as a child and I always loved to see what strange thing animals can do.
There was a part in the book that struck me as odd and a bit unnecessary. in the section on bats, it says "Sometimes women are afraid of bats. They are afraid that bats will fly into their hair. But this almost never happens." But, this was also published in 1964. Even with some of these strange features and the date of the book, I remember reading them as a child and I always loved to see what strange thing animals can do.
May 16, 2019
My memories of the Step-Up series of books has just flooded into my mind; I can't believe I had forgotten some of my best-loved books from my personal childhood library! Animals Do the Strangest Things was a fun one. I specifically remember the page about the platypus and the illustration of the eggs buried beneath the water. So fun to look back on my early discovery of non-fiction!
October 9, 2018
This book was read to and by our children so many times, and its hard cover had been chewed on by babies and our dog. It is full of strange animals and the things they do; that's what makes it so interesting and educational to read.
March 25, 2021
I am so impressed with this series after we just finished this, our second book in it. The kids LOVE hearing about each animal, and they are written in a way that really interests them and that is understandable for their age.
January 27, 2023
Read to my 7-Year Old. Engaging with lots of fun facts. We love it!!
November 7, 2023
🦁🐅🦍🐘🦨🦭🐳
March 7, 2023
I’d give give this book 4.5 stars if I could. It was interesting and had great illustrations! But the synopsis of the bear was really harsh and not fair at all. Makes one wonder if the author had a run in with a bear or was trying to influence readers of the time of publication to stay away from bears?
July 1, 2011
Well, I got this book when I was in first grade. When I started to read it, I couldn't figure out most of the words. I thought that the book was extremely boring as it was about how animals live and their most boring hobbies. I would not, and I repeat...WOULD NOT recommend this book to anyone on the face of the Earth unless you like extremely boring and useless facts. I don't think you should read this book at all! So yeah, you could read it if you wanted to...but, I really don't think you should. Peace out! (Read this book at your own risk...)
March 21, 2016
I remember lugging this book all over the place as a kid! Full of interesting facts about many different animals (I especially remember liking to read about the otters and the duck-billed platypus) and with some fairly challenging vocabulary, it really helped me learn. It's been a good twenty years since I would have last cracked this book open but I can still clearly recall the thrill it gave me and how much it excited me to learn about these animals. It really stoked my interest in animals, something that I am still passionate about today.
April 17, 2011
This book has many interesting facts about animals such as the never thirsty camel, the tallest living animal the giraffe, the biggest animal the blue whale, and many other animals. Although the book is a little outdated, the facts still hold true for all the animals in the book, and it is a great read for pre-k to 2nd grade students.
February 21, 2012
I like this book, and I have come to enjoy it more as Tyler has asked for it about 50 times in the last few months. It makes a great quiet time book and holds his fascination. Today he told me he wants an elephant seal for a pet.
February 21, 2015
My children loved these books. They owned the entire series. Their copies fell apart they read them so often. I'm finding copies for my grandchildren now. They are no longer in print, but well worth buying second hand.
June 29, 2016
I looooved this book when I was young and I remember writing a book report on it in first or second grade. However, I doubt that it would stand up very well today as I'm sure some of the information must be inaccurate.
July 9, 2012
The sound track to my childhood!
February 6, 2021
Read review of "Birds Do the Strangest Things".
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews