What Is a Mammal?

by Bobbie Kalman

What is a Mammal? teaches the basic rules as well as the exceptions that help children understand differences between mammals and other living things. Amazing full-color photographs feature a large variety of mammals including apes, elephants, rodents, and bats and help - those mammals that lay eggs - mammals with a pouch - placental mammals, such as humans

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1997

About the author

Bobbie Kalman is the award-winning author of more than 400 non-fiction books. She established herself as a leading author in children’s non-fiction in the 1980’s and 90’s with two acclaimed series about pioneer life, The Early Settler Life Series (15 titles) and The Historic Communities Series (31 titles), both published by Crabtree Publishing. She has created many of Crabtree’s most popular series, which also include The Native Nations of North America Series (19 titles), The Lands, Peoples, and Cultures Series (93 titles), and The Science of Living Things Series (32 titles), among others.

Born in Hungary in 1947, Bobbie and her family escaped to Austria during the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. The family spent several weeks there as refugees before immigrating to North America. A former teacher, Bobbie Kalman taught at both the elementary and secondary levels. She also spent several years working as an educational consultant for several publishing companies. Bobbie holds degrees in English, Psychology, and Education. She is married and has four children and three grandchildren.

Although best known for her non-fiction, Bobbie’s newest book is autobiographical. Released in September, 2006, Refugee Child is the account of Bobbie and her family’s escape from Hungary when she was just nine years old. Written to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in October of 2006, the book is told from the perspective of a young girl.

Reviews

[Anna Claxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book looks as 1990s as it is. The pictures are overly saturated. Content wise, its layout is easy to follow.

I can’t remember if I had animal science classes in elementary school; if I did, I didn’t retain much. Reading this book as an adult was enlightening: nature is cool.

[Rebecca Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been using this as part of the spine for a mammal study with my 9 and 10 year-olds. It does what it's supposed to do, but there's nothing fancy about it. It's basic and very average.

[Tina]

This book is really awesome! I thought that because my kids and I already know a fair amount about mammals, that we wouldn't get much out of it....but I was WRONG!

They detail many different types of mammals: monotremes, marsupials, placentals, primates, rodents, lagomorphs, carnivores, insectivores, perissodactyls, artiodactyls, edentates, sirenians, cetaceans, and more! Fascinating stuff! Short info to just capture your interest and not bore you with too much detail.

[Mkb · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can I give a poor review to a book that is dedicated to me? :)