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Uncommon Animals
Arctic Fox: Very Cool!
In the Arctic, winter lasts eight months and temperatures fall as low as -58ºF. Few animals can survive such extreme conditions. The Arctic fox, however, is unique. It lives farther north than any other land mammal in the world. How can it survive the harsh conditions? Biologist Maarten Loonen wanted to find out. Since 1990, he has traveled to the Arctic every year to study these uncommon foxes. In Arctic Very Cool!, kids follow Loonen as he studies the survival techniques of these fascinating animals. Large, full-color photos and a narrative format will keep readers turning the pages for more.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published August 1, 2008
6 people want to read
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January 26, 2022
Although Stephen Person’s 2008 non-fiction picture book Arctic Fox: Very Cool! is part of a series of supposedly uncommon animal species, personally, I for one do not necessarily believe that the Arctic Fox should be considered as all that rare an animal species (since according to author Stephen Person’s text as it presents itself in Arctic Fox: Very Cool!, even with Arctic Foxes often being hunted and trapped especially during the winter for their supremely warm and insulating fur, their general numbers are actually quite stable, are not falling due to humans hunting them and that Arctic Foxes are as such also not currently threatened or in danger of extinction).
But aside from me not considering the Arctic Fox a rare animal species and therefore wondering why Arctic Fox: Very Cool! is actually part of that above mentioned series, for me, both textually and illustratively, Arctic Fox: Very Cool! features a pretty much perfectly engaging and educational introduction to all things Arctic Fox themed. For indeed, author Stephen Person delightfully, clearly, succinctly and with just enough verbal detail shows his intended audience, shows young readers (and listeners) from about the age of five or so onwards pretty well everything that needs to be known to obtain a basic but sufficiently informative scientific and ecological portrait of Arctic Foxes (that Arctic Foxes have the warmest coat of any known mammalian species, so thick and warm that even during the brutal Arctic winters, they usually sleep outside and do not like many other Arctic species of wildlife need to migrate or hibernate, that Arctic Foxes live farther north on a permanent basis than any land animal, what they look like, how they breed and raise their young, that Arctic Foxes are both a predator and prey species and that their diet is hugely diverse and also often includes carrion and in particular the scraps that Polar Bears leave behind, and finally, but unfortunately, that Arctic Foxes will likely also be one of the wildlife species most negatively affected by global warming, by a warmer Arctic region, since they for one have evolved to thrive in frigid temperatures and will likely find these higher general temperatures too warm for their metabolism and for two, that Arctic Foxes might easily end up being threatened by invading species from the south, such as for example the much larger and considerably more aggressive Red Fox).
And finally with regard to the accompanying photographs for Arctic Fox: Very Cool!, they are very nicely rendered and along with the distribution maps provide a wonderful visual mirror to and for Stephen Person’s presented text, a wonderful introduction to Arctic Foxes, their habitats and how they live, and with the short but still sufficient bibliography with suggestions for further reading and research being an appreciated and added bonus.
But aside from me not considering the Arctic Fox a rare animal species and therefore wondering why Arctic Fox: Very Cool! is actually part of that above mentioned series, for me, both textually and illustratively, Arctic Fox: Very Cool! features a pretty much perfectly engaging and educational introduction to all things Arctic Fox themed. For indeed, author Stephen Person delightfully, clearly, succinctly and with just enough verbal detail shows his intended audience, shows young readers (and listeners) from about the age of five or so onwards pretty well everything that needs to be known to obtain a basic but sufficiently informative scientific and ecological portrait of Arctic Foxes (that Arctic Foxes have the warmest coat of any known mammalian species, so thick and warm that even during the brutal Arctic winters, they usually sleep outside and do not like many other Arctic species of wildlife need to migrate or hibernate, that Arctic Foxes live farther north on a permanent basis than any land animal, what they look like, how they breed and raise their young, that Arctic Foxes are both a predator and prey species and that their diet is hugely diverse and also often includes carrion and in particular the scraps that Polar Bears leave behind, and finally, but unfortunately, that Arctic Foxes will likely also be one of the wildlife species most negatively affected by global warming, by a warmer Arctic region, since they for one have evolved to thrive in frigid temperatures and will likely find these higher general temperatures too warm for their metabolism and for two, that Arctic Foxes might easily end up being threatened by invading species from the south, such as for example the much larger and considerably more aggressive Red Fox).
And finally with regard to the accompanying photographs for Arctic Fox: Very Cool!, they are very nicely rendered and along with the distribution maps provide a wonderful visual mirror to and for Stephen Person’s presented text, a wonderful introduction to Arctic Foxes, their habitats and how they live, and with the short but still sufficient bibliography with suggestions for further reading and research being an appreciated and added bonus.
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