Want a reluctant kid to engage with science? Show them curiosities. Show them all of the ways that nature defies our expectations. This is a solid exploration of camouflage and why organisms resemble other things.

Rock? Plant? Animal?
by Etta Kaner
Pub Date: October 4, 2022
Owlkids
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
When I taught 2nd grade my students adored non-fiction. I bet they would have loved this book too!
Each page of the book features a picture of a rock, plant, or animal that could easily look as though it fits in one of the other two categories. The pages also give great information about these unusual plants, animals, and rocks, and encourage readers to want to learn more about them! The pictures are very interesting and the fun game of trying to guess what kind of object you are looking at will keep readers entertained from beginning to end. This is a fun and engaging book that will trick young kids into reading and learning in the best way. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 6-10 range.
5 stars

This beautifully illustrated book is packed with interesting facts for young children. Children and adults will love the guessing game and most likely search for more information on each rock, plant or animal online.. The words to know at the back will be useful for parents and teachers and children learning new science vocabulary. It would be helpful to included the status of some of the subjects, such as the Leafy Sea Dragon, which is a protected species. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to see the Leafy Sea Dragon in a book! Hopefully, there will be another book with more Rocks, Plants, and Animals to share!

Rock? Plant? Animal?: How Nature Keeps Us Guessing is a children's nonfiction book written by Etta Kaner and illustrated by Brittany Lane. It is currently scheduled for release on September 13 2022. This book is an interactive guessing game featuring nature’s most unusual adaptations and characteristics. Can you tell the difference between a rock, a plant, and an animal? While it might sound simple, the vast diversity of life on earth can throw us some serious curveballs! Sometimes, what looks like a plant is actually an animal. Other times, what looks like an animal is actually a plant! Even things that look like living creatures can turn out to be unique rocks. Each spread features a realistic illustration of either a puzzling critter, a perplexing plant, or a special stone. Every picture is accompanied by a simple prompt: rock, plant, or animal? The answer is revealed by turning the page to discover a beautifully detailed scene and a brief description of the “species.” Even for the most esteemed naturalists, the answers are hard to believe! Rock? Plant? Animal? lets its readers be detectives, encouraging curiosity and embracing surprise.

Rock? Plant? Animal? is a fun read with eye catching images that are well worth a look all on their own. I think young readers will engage with the text and interactive nature of the book while becoming a little more aware that nature does some very interesting things. The book could help the young readers, and the adults or older children that might be sharing the book with them, think a bit about how nature can surprise us and how things are not always what they seem. The book is fun and bright, and I think it will do a good job of capturing and keeping the attention of readers. I even saw a couple things that were new to me!

We had so much fun guessing. I like that they expose kids to things and creatures that they might not be aware of.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A fun guessing game book for kids to play and learn more about creatures and the nature around us.

This book defines what they consider to be a rock, plant, and animal at the beginning. Then there are pictures to determine what the item is. The next page then zooms out and shows what it really is.

This is a wonderful children's picture book that is perfect for children who are curious nature detectives. The beginning of the book has clues to define the characteristics of rocks, plants, and animals. It then shows a gorgeous full color picture of a mystery rock, plant, or animal. Children will then guess what the picture is showing. Once they turn the page they find out the name of the rock, plant, or animal and learn some basic information about it. This is perfect for teaching about animal/ plant adaptations.

Rock? Plant? Animal? by Etta Kaner is an interactive children’s book. Pages offer a photo of either a rock, plant, or animal and the goal is to guess which it is. Then once you find out by turning the page, there is description of the object/organism. It’s a fun way to learn about the unique identities in nature and how many objects/organisms look like others. The book would probably require parents to help work through the book with children especially when reading the descriptions.

Thanks Netgalley and Owlkids for this ARC. This might be a good consideration for our elementary section in the library.

As a grade 3 teacher, I can so see my students loving this book! Each page of the book features a picture of a rock, plant or animal that could easily look as though it fit in one of the other two categories. The pages also give great information about these unusual plants, animals and rocks, and encourage readers to want to learn more about them! The pictures are very interesting and the fun game of trying to guess what kind of object you are looking at will keep readers entertained from beginning to end. This is a fun and engaging book that will trick young kids into reading and learning in the best way. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the age 6-10 range. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

This book was so much fun! I am always down for children's nonfiction books about animals and nature. The pictures are interesting to look at and the interactive nature of the book will keep kids guessing. I know my two youngest would enjoy guessing what's what and then learning about whatever Rock, Plant, or Animal was featured.

Clever little book! I think preschoolers to 6th graders will enjoy guessing which which pictures are rocks, plants, or animals. I'm betting even teens and adults will enjoy perusing the book. I really want cobra lilies in my garden! Cool book. Make a great gidt to kids interested in science, or as a nice addition to a science class.

This book is educational and very entertaining. It taught me about new species of Plants (ant plant), rocks ( desert roses) and animals red feather star) that I had to learn more about after reading. If I was this involved as a 38 year old I can imagine a child. I cannot recommend this book enough and will be gifting it to the children in my life.

Rock? Plant? Animal? is a really fun book, which lets the reader try to figure out which of the 3 is the featured illustration. A must-read for any nature lover!! I learned a lot.

Rock? Plant? Animal? is a fun book for all ages! I had a blast trying to guess if the picture was a rock, plant or animal and learning new facts about these different things. The story is a bit long but I could see teachers using this book as a great hook before jumping into a living or non-living things unit in science. Students would enjoy browsing through the book on their own, too!

The illustrations were quite life-like and I loved the stand-alone picture and then the picture of the rock, plant, or animal residing in their environment. This would be a great book to add to any school or classroom library. Thank you NetGalley and OwlKids Books for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.