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Readers may have heard of a gaggle of geese, but what about a skulk of foxes or a gam of whales? In a playful and informative way, author and former English teacher Lee Clancey introduces readers to nouns of assembly: the words that describe an animal group. Her new book, “A Bale of Turtles” (published by Archway Publishing), illustrated by Mary Rothermel entertains while educating young readers on some lesser used words.
Reviews
In an amusing introduction to collective nouns, Clancey uses concise rhymes of describe animal groups on land, in water, and in the air. Rothermel’s skills at rendering naturalistic scenes are apparent, yet her paintings also offer hints of visual playfulness: in one scene, dolphins and jellyfish swim within view of an underwater one-room schoolhouse (“A lone jellyfish floats in the sea/ And she is soon joined by a smack./ A school of dolphins swims nearby,/ They already have their pack”). Elsewhere, strings of ponies play hopscotch in a field, a “serious business of ferrets” wears tycoon-worthy top hats, and moles and rabbits rest in underground burrows, tucked cozily in the layered contours of the ground. The tall trim size is at odds with the horizontal orientation of the images, the artwork squeezed into single pages with large margins above and below, but the notes of whimsy and majesty Rothermel includes (a gaggle of geese, a rafter of turkeys, and a paddling of ducks reside in a pond ablaze with reflected autumn foliage) should hold readers’ attention. Ages 4–8. (BookLife)
