Book Review: Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers

After I wrote the other day all about hibernating animals, I came across another book that would be fun for a unit study on hibernation or animals in the winter.

Hiders Seekers Finders Keepers: How Animals Adapt in Winter by Jessica Kulekjian and Salini Perera shows different animals getting ready for winter. The hiders are animals like turtles, frogs, bees, chipmunks, bears, snakes and bugs, and the book shows all of them in the places and ways they like to spend wither, with a couple of sentences about each. For example we learn that carpenter ants make a substance called glycerol, which helps prevent them from freezanimals like squirrels that hide a future feast, or foxes who grow a warmer coat for winter.

The book includes lovely illustrations that show a dad anding.

Meanwhile the seekers like geese, elk and mule deer move around to find a better place to spend the winter. Of course butterflies and lots of other birds and insects do this, too. Keepers are daughter walking through the winter forest. In the end they find rabbit tracks, and there’s a guide to different animal tracks in the snow in the back of the book. There are also resources for further reading, documentaries to watch and websites to visit to learn more about the different animals featured in the book and how they get through the winter.

There is a lot of detail in the illustrations that can keep you talking beyond the facts on the page. Kids will have fun noticing animals that are hiding and what’s going on in the background of drawings.

This book is pretty, short but full of facts that will interest the animal lovers in your classroom or home and shows many different ways that animals can prepare for winter.

About the book: 32 pages, hardcover. Published 2022 by Kids Can Press, suggested retail price $19.99

[Photo: Kids Can Press]

Next Plan Idea:

Hibernating Animals Activities

Whenever you go to the beach with kids, you’re sure to come home with some seashells and more than a little sand. Let’s use some of those treasures to make fun crafts.

This handprint craft is made with a sand-infused salt dough and some little shells from the beach. It’s a cute way to remember how little your kids were on that beach trip. Find the instructions at From Under a Palm Tree.

Here’s another take on sand dough that was used to make little ornaments and sculptures. Get the details from Pink Stripey Socks.

Moms and Crafters used air dry clay and seashells to make these cute necklaces. She used the storebought clay but you can also make your own air dry clay if you’d rather.

Crafts on Sea used a shell to make a whale, but I’m sure you could take this idea and make lots of different creatures. I love the idea of sea creatures made with shells like fish or a jellyfish or an octopus using the same method. They also have a seashell decoration made with salt dough that’s really cute and would be fun for kids to paint. Poke a hole before it dries for hanging if you want.

Or take a bunch of little shells and decorate a frame like these from Rhythms of Play. They used a handprint instead of a picture but you could also put in a picture from the beach trip.

This is probably one for the mamas to make because it uses epoxy, but I also wanted to share these cute and easy shell hair pins from Thrifty Mama Ramblings, which kids are sure to want for their mermaid pretend play.

Or how about some sensory play straight from the beach? Use store bought sand if you don’t have a beach nearby to make this beach sand slime from The Mama Notes. Thrown in some shells and kids will love playing with this one.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply