Dr. David FitzSimmons, Associate Professor of English, has published a second Curious Critters children's picture book. Instead of seeking rare animals in exotic locations, FitzSimmons photographs common animals—many found in your own backyard—against plain, white backgrounds, producing detailed close-up images. FitzSimmons’s unconventional approach allows animals’ colors, textures, shapes, and “personalities” to shine through. “Kids focus on the animals. That’s when the learning begins,” FitzSimmons explains. “They focus on and notice clues about animals’ behaviors, diets, life cycles, and habitats.”
Curious Critters: Volume Two is filled with fascinating fauna, including a beautiful butterfly, a Spanish-speaking armadillo, a mathematical moth, a bellowing alligator, a back flipping beetle, and other amazing animals.
The second book in the series is not only entertaining but also educational. Before FitzSimmons began composing the short vignettes accompanying each photo, he reviewed national science education standards. Curious Critters: Volume Two meets all the National Research Council’s life science standards for grades K-4.
The first volume of Curious Critters received five national book awards, including the 2012 IBPA Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book (Children's/Young Adult).
The national release of the second volume will take place at Main Street Books in Mansfield, Ohio on Friday, February 7 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.
The AU campus celebration is scheduled for Tuesday, February 11 from 3:00-5:00 in the Founders Seminar Room.
