John Canty, Heads and Tails Underwater, Berbay Publishing, July 2019, 32pp, RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9780648397359
Did you know that a sea star can regrow its arms if it needs to? Or that a jellyfish doesn’t have a brain?
Heads and Tails Underwater is a very welcome follow up to Canty’s previous book, Heads and Tails. This time the game is guessing the heads of sea and water creatures, based on their tails and the clues given. Once again, readers will be instantly hooked in by the highly interactive format, puzzling through the clues and being surprised when Canty plays with the format.
Canty has produced another exquisite and thoughtful book, both in the writing and illustrations. The language is simple and clear enough to engage very young readers, but with enough specificity and intrigue to delight older ones. The pen and watercolour illustrations are lovely enough to be framed.
Teachers can use this book to construct lessons on animal facts, on using clues to predict and could even have their students create their own pages of a class book.
Reviewed by Madeleine Croft
