Animal Diaries: Life Cycles

One spring evening in a forest, a young child watches as millions of periodical cicada nymphs emerge from the ground. She decides to observe these long-lived insects and record what happens to them in a diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator sees the nymphs become adults, swarm together, lay eggs, and eventually die. All the details of the insect's lives are eagerly explored, including the moment the new cicada eggs hatch and begin their 17-year life cycle! Colorful photos and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these fascinating insects. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking-and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

One summer night, a young child witnesses a huge green sea turtle laying her eggs on a Florida beach. As he watches, he decides to record what happens in a diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes baby turtles hatching from the eggs, climbing out of their sandy nest, and then making a treacherous run to the ocean. As the tiny hatchlings begin their new lives at sea, the young diarist researches how turtles grow, the dangers they face, and how female turtles eventually return to the beach where they hatched to lay their own eggs. Colorful photos and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these endangered animals. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking-and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child spots a jumping spider on her back porch. She keeps watch on the spider, recording its hunting, feeding, and mating activities in her diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes jumping spiders' behavior up close, including the development from eggs to babies through molting and becoming an adult spider. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these incredible creatures. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A child watches a female cardinal building a nest in his backyard and decides to record what happens to the cardinal family in her diary. Readers will follow along as the young narrator observes the birds' behavior up close, including the mother bird brooding her eggs, the chicks peeking from the nest for the first time, and the parent birds feeding and fledging their young. All the details of the birds' lives are explored up to the time when the juvenile birds are ready to leave home. Large photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these colorful birds. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child in Australia becomes interested in an injured red kangaroo that her rehabilitator parents are helping to treat. The kangaroo has a baby, called a joey, in its pouch. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes the development of the joey as it grows from a tiny baby the size of a cherry into an adult kangaroo--the largest marsupial in the world. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these incredible creatures. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child living on the island of Madagascar spots a pair of panther chameleons in a tree near her home. She keeps watch on the chameleons and decides to record what she sees in a diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes the male's mating dance, the female digging a burrow for her eggs, and the emergence of the baby chameleons from the burrow. As the independent young chameleons hunt, feed, and grow into adults, every moment is detailed in the diary. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these colorful reptiles. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child joins his scientist parents as they observe the behavior a wolf pack over the course of one year. The narrator decides to keep a diary and records how the pack's alpha pair digs a den and then raises a litter of cubs. From watching the cubs emerge from the den for the first time, to seeing the cubs grow into adults and find their places in the hierarchy of the pack, the reader will follow the daily life of the close-knit wolf family. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these intelligent and fascinating animals. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child spots a kingsnake in a tree on her family's farm. She decides to keep track of it and record her observations in her diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator tracks the non-venomous snake into a wooded area and finds its eggs in a tree. Later, she reports seeing the baby kingsnakes grow and shed their skin. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these fascinating creatures. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child enjoys watching the colorful dragonflies at the pond near her home and decides to spend the summer keeping a dragonfly diary. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes female dragonflies laying eggs in the pond, and then keeps watch for nymphs in the water. When a nymph climbs from the pond and undergoes its incredible metamorphosis into an adult dragonfly, the excited diarist is there to describe every moment! Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these beautiful insects. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.

A young child from the northern United States spots a Monarch butterfly laying eggs and keeps watch as the eggs hatch and the new caterpillars munch away on leaves. Readers will follow along as the narrator observes the butterflies' behavior up close, including the amazing metamorphosis of caterpillars into adult Monarch butterflies and their migration to Mexico. Colorful photos, diagrams, and clear, age-appropriate text will engage young readers as they explore the life cycle, natural habitat, physical characteristics, diet, and behavior of these beautiful insects. The diary format models scientific observation and critical thinking--and encourages children to keep notebooks recording their own investigations into the natural world.