More from Sylvan Dell Publishing!

I have the honor of introducing to you a few more great Sylvan Dell Publishing books! Hopefully, by now, you are as much in love with Sylvan Dell as I am!

One Wolf Howls

Written by Scotti Cohn

Illustrated by Susan Detwiler

Children will have so much fun reading this book that they won’t even realize they’re learning. Or, even better, they will realize they’re learning and decide that learning’s fun! This story follows a pack of wolves through the months of the year; each page spread shows a new month and adds one new wolf to the pack. 

The story is written in a lilting chant that will make this a fun read-aloud book. The words are beautiful, and it’s fun to experience the mix of poetry and biology! Only in a few places did the rhyming sound forced. The illustrations are bright and detailed; each page is a beautiful contrast to the pages before it. Kids’ eyes will be glued to this book as they read!

As always with Sylvan Dell, the last pages of the book offer great educational games for kids to play. My personal favorite was a wolf communication activity, in which the reader matches the wolf’s posture with the message the wolf is trying to convey. For someone who can be a little nervous around strange dogs (like me), this might just come in handy!

Panda’s Earthquake Escape

Written by Phyllis Perry

Illustrated by Susan Detwiler

This Mom’s Choice Awards winner tells the gripping story of Liling and Tengfei, a panda and her cub, who lived through the 7.9 earthquake that hit northern China in May of 2008. Liling and her cub are peacefully sleeping in a tree when the ground beneath begins to shake. The shuddering ground causes the tree limb to break off and both pandas plummet to the ground. They are not hurt, but the wall of the enclosure in the reserve where they live is knocked down. Frightened by the rocking ground, the pandas flee into the mountains. They wander, foraging for food and huddling in fear when more quakes shake the ground. Eventually their keepers at the reserve find Liling and Tengfei and bring them home.

I really appreciated this book. The first thought that struck me was that I rarely get the chance to read about natural disasters from an animal’s point of view. I was made to think about just how disorienting that experience must be for an animal. Also, for an animal that has lived its entire life in a reserve, suddenly roaming around a forest and needing to find food would be quite terrifying!

Susan Detwiler did not disappoint with her magnificent illustrations. Through her illustrations, I was able to experience the rich flora of a mountain in China. The emotion she conveyed on the faces of the pandas had me sympathizing with them over their plight!

I hope you enjoy these excellent reads from Sylvan Dell Publishing!