The text, simple and repetitive, changes only the name for the animal depicted in the photo on that spread: “I like the cat” “I like the piglet.” In this way, reading comprehension for new readers is supported in an enjoyable, appealing way, since the photo of the animal reinforces the new word. While a couple of double-page spreads show the larger adult animals-pigs and cows-without a child, most of the rest portray a delighted child hugging a compliant critter. Chickens, chicks, cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, pigs, piglets, cows, and calves are all represented. Using a simple, effective template-a full-page photograph on the recto page and a bordered spot photo above the text on the verso-Rotner delivers an amiable picture book that presents racially and ethnically diverse kids interacting (mostly in the cuddling department) with the adult and baby animals typically found on a farm. This entry-level early reader/picture book pairs children with farm animals.
Two pages of notes at the end offer a definition (“Spiral: a shape that curls around a center point”), details that elaborate on the poem and explain some of the individual manifestations of spirals and a brief nod to the Fibonacci sequence.
They further offer observations on the ways that plants and animals use the spiral structure for strength or support (a monkey’s tail clinging to a branch, a spider’s web constructed between twigs). The author and illustrator examine spirals as coiled and protective (fiddlehead ferns, a curled hedgehog) as well as bold and releasing (curls on ocean waves, a spiral galaxy). Krommes’ dense and richly colored scratchboard illustrations, with their closely packed and neatly labeled creatures, plants and natural phenomena, create a feeling of abundance and profusion, with so many parts of the world nestled together in swirls and spirals-effectively demonstrating its fundamental nature.
“A spiral is a snuggling shape” is the somewhat homely observation that begins Sidman’s brief and graceful poem-she goes on to catalog and celebrate the ways that spirals manifest themselves in the physical and natural world in a way that will draw in the youngest listeners.
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