Enticing, crisp full-color photographs of paws, claws and "clingy toes" lead young readers into a guessing game about which "foot" propels which animal.
Ingo Arndt, whose photographs have appeared in National Geographic and BBC Wildlife, introduces six creatures with a full-spread close-up photograph of the underside of its foot ("Whose foot is this?" reads the text), then with a turn of the page, readers discover its often surprising owner in its natural habitat. Each of these six lead the way to other creatures whose feet serve a similar purpose (e.g., "feet that dig"; "feet that jump").
What appears to be the pad of a kitten's foot in one close-up full-spread photograph turns out to belong to a tiger, revealed in its majestic beauty on the left-hand page of the next spread. Arndt then introduces a quartet of feet--arranged in a windowpane--belonging to other animals with "feet that walk." He offers some detail about each foot's design: the "soft and springy" sole of an elephant's foot helps "cushion its walk," for instance. A double-page photograph of a duck's foot leads into other examples of "feet that swim," including the flipper of a seal.
Arndt also uses his photographs to show how different characteristics help the animal in its habitat; the tokay gecko's ribbed toes assist in climbing smooth surfaces, while the red-eyed tree frog emits a sticky liquid from its toes that help it hold tight to branches and leaves. A highly intriguing book for budding scientists and animal lovers. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness