It’s Our Nature by R. Orozoco

• Published in: The Deakin Review of Children's Literature
• Main Author: Smith, Jorden
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Alberta Libraries 2014
• Subjects: Tundra
• Online Access: http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/deakinreview/article/view/21373; https://doi.org/10.20361/G2G602

Orozoco, Rebeca. It’s Our Nature. Illus. Menena Cottin. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2012. Print.Informative and educational, with beautiful minimalist illustrations, this book is an excellent resource for character education. The author correlates animal behaviours with values and behaviours children are learning: altruism, community, communication, generosity, responsibility, trust, commitment, solidarity, brotherhood, and tolerance.The connection implicit in the text, that animals and humans bear many similar valued traits, beautifully underlies this book. At first glance, it seems perfect for a budding biologist, but upon further exploration, it would be a wonderful book for any child. Reading the preface is a necessity to really understand the purpose of the book and the underlying message. Due to its location directly opposite the publication information, I mistook it for a dedication and skipped in on my first read.The deceivingly simple artwork is fantastic and is a perfect partner for the abundant text. The inside cover is a vibrant orange but the artist uses muted tones in the illustrations. The font and text is a little dense. While I appreciate whitespace created by grouping the text together, it does not really increase the readability in this case. Recommended: 3 out of 4 starsReviewer: Jorden SmithJorden is a Public Services Librarian in Rutherford Humanities and Social Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. She is an avid fiction reader and subscribes to Hemingway’s belief that “there is no friend as loyal as a book.”