Animachines by Debora Pearson, illustrated by Nora Hilb (Annick Press, 2003) is a creative comparison book for very young children. On each page, there is an animal doing something as well as a vehicle of some sort acting in very much the same way.

Each two-page spread features a large single verb: fly, stretch, dig, pull. Then, one side of the page shows the animal doing that action and the other side of the page is a vehicle doing the action. The two-sentence rhymes almost rhyme: The two sentences sound great together, even though “clip-clop” and “chugs off” don’t truly rhyme.

This book would be a fun read-aloud for young children, especially those that love animals and vehicles! Even beyond such an assignment, I love that it actually is teaching the concept of metaphor. The parent reader can extend the reading simply by saying, “Can that bulldozer crawl like a sea turtle? Can you?” These concepts make Animachines not just a fun read-aloud but also an action book and a very gentle introduction to basic figurative speech concepts.