ARC Review: Dolphin, Fox, Hippo, and Ox: What is a Mammal? by Brian P. Cleary

                  Title: Dolphin, Fox, Hippo, and Ox

                           Series: Animal Groups are CATegorical

Author: Brian P. Cleary

                                                  Publisher: Millbrook Press (Lerner Publishing Group)

                     Date of Publication: October 1, 2012

                                       Format: ebook, paperback, hardcover 32 pages

           Source: eARC from Netgalley

The Words Are CATegorical® cats are back again . . . and they're on the loose to explore animal groups! This time, those zany cartoon cats provide a playful look at common animal classes. Brian P. Cleary's text and Martin Goneau's illustrations comically combine to give the defining characteristics of each class. They also offer a variety of animals in each group. Animal classification has never been so much fun!    -book description from Netgalley

Mom's Thoughts:

I love rhyming books, especially when it can hold my interest as well as my kids too.  I also enjoy books for the kids when they can learn in a fun and colorful way and this book makes that happen.  

Mr. Cleary did a wonderful job of explaining the different reasons mammals are mammals and even took into account some of those unique mammals that don't always follow the rules making it easier to understand for a young child as well as upper elementary school too.

The illustrations are pretty awesome too!  My four year old was laughing at the pictures as he was learning all about how to classify lions, bats, whales, and even a happy platypus.  

There is a lot of visual stimulation throughout the book so make sure not to let the kiddos get confused.  We just took our time enjoying the different pictures and tried naming even more animals that weren't in the book to see if they applied to the "mammal rules."  

I enjoyed this book immensely for many reasons.  We learned while having fun but most importantly; this is a book that all four of my sons, from the 4 year old all the way to the 9 year old,  could enjoy together.  

I gave it four **** stars!

*clicking on title will take you to goodreads page; clicking on author's name will take you to a wonderful interactive website for extra activities and fun.