Can You Tell an Ostrich from an Emu? (Lightning Bolt Books ® ― Animal Look-Alikes) Paperback – January 1, 2012

So many I know (adults and children alike) have had a difficult time telling these two species apart. This book easily shows the similarities while explaining their differences with nice photographs and text. Would make a nice gift for any young reader who enjoys Africa's large felines.

Good book for compare and contrast

Great elementary school library addition.

Kids love this book. Nice pictures, my second graders enjoy this whole series.

Not much to it. Like a comic book in size

Good book about dolphins and porpoises but missed a golden opportunity to mention the plight of the vaquita, the worlds smallest, rarest, critically endangered, almost extinct porpoise.

If you take a look at a picture of the head and shoulders of a pony and a horse standing side by side, you may have a bit of trouble telling the difference between them. They are similar in that they both have manes, tails, and enjoy eating grass, but there are some noticeable differences. The pony has "short, strong legs" while the horse has long ones. There is also a difference in height. For example, an adult horse is "fourteen and a half hands or taller," while the adult pony is less than that. If you care to do the math, a "hand" is four inches or ten centimeters high.When you look at the bodies of a pony and a horse and compare their width, you'll see that the pony is wider. Horses have been helpers and some of them were taken to "dry, rocky places." In time they adapted to climbing rocks and "became smaller and tougher." These horses were later called ponies. There was sometimes a difference in climate and ponies ended up with "thicker manes, tails, and coats." In this book you'll also learn about the kinds of work both animals did, how some were used for sport, how they keep themselves safe, you'll read about wild horses and ponies, and will read many other interesting things about these appealing animals.This is a fun book that will help younger children tell the difference between the horse and the pony. In this beginning nonfiction chapter book, several differences between the two animals are pointed out, but there were several other interesting facts that I liked to see. For example, we get to learn several historical facts, get to see some very high interest photographs, and learn small vignettes such as what withers are. This is the type of book that a newly independent reader would have fun tackling with a bit of assistance from a peer reader. The book is generously illustrated with photographs accompanied by interesting captions. In the back of the book is an index, a glossary, a section on Fun Facts, and additional recommended book and website resources to explore.This book courtesy of the publisher.

If you quickly glanced at a picture of an emu, you just might say it's an ostrich because the two birds do look a lot alike. They are both large, have long legs, feathers, and long necks. A closer look will point out some of the more subtle differences. The ostrich has "only a few fuzzy feathers" on top of its head and you can see its pink skin where there aren't many feathers on its neck and legs. The emu has dark feathers on its head and they "blend in with grass and bushes." If you check out their feet, the ostrich has two toes while the emu has three.Adult male and female ostriches have different colored feathers. The male has black and white feathers and the female and her little ones have "gray or brown feathers [that] blend in with tall grass." Adult emus have brown feathers, but their chicks are striped. Ostriches have BIG wings, but the Emu's wings are very small. In this book you'll also learn how ostriches and emus "talk," how they make their nests, how many eggs they lay, who tends to the eggs, when the chicks leave the nest, where they live, what they eat, and you'll learn many other interesting facts about these birds.This is an interesting book about two look-alike birds, the ostrich and the emu. There are numerous high-interest photographs in this beginning nonfiction chapter book. Young readers will especially love looking at the baby chicks, including an ostrich chick emerging from its shell. Independent readers should be able to read this book with ease, but it would be a fun read and discuss book in the homeschool or classroom setting. There is a photographic "quiz" that students can work on independently. In the back of the book is an index, a glossary, some Fun Facts, and additional recommended book and website resources to explore.This book courtesy of the publisher.