Bees, Snails & Peacock Tails by Betsy Franco

Final Blog
Bees, Snails & Peacock Tails By Betsy Franco Illustrated By Steve Jenkins

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

ISBN 13: 978-1-4169-0386-0

ISBN 10: 1-4169-0386-0

          Bees, Snails & Peacock Tails by Betsy Franco is a poetry book about different animals and their individual stories.  Each animal has their own rhyme, which tells a fact or two about the animal’s habits.  The animals mentioned within the story include: bees, moths, spiders, peacocks, migrating birds, ants, mice, snakes, sea stars, puffer fish and snails.  The story is filled with fun rhymes and a steady rhythm throughout the story without losing interest or creating a dull repetition.

          The book is a great visual aide to use in the classroom.  It teaches students facts about each type of animal that exists all around us.  These are not exotic or foreign animals such as kangaroos, pandas or leopards. It also includes animals who are both nocturnal and who aren’t.  The animal’s chosen for this book was a smart choice by the author. From the tiny ants to spiders to mice to birds to snakes, it reminds me of the food chain in a way.  The book mainly teaches science with hints of math, the author points out how the bees make hexagons with their nests.  “Study a beehive and you will see the mathematical genius of the bee.  The hexagons you’ll find inside fit side by side by side by side.  This math is passed mysteriously from worker bee to worker bee!” (Franco) 

          The author makes learning fun and innovating with the subtle hints of what each animal’s characteristics are.  One analogy that is mentioned is a moth’s attraction to a flame (or light).       

          The illustrations throughout are fun and create a lot of depth.  The materials used are very unique; in a way it has a touch of childlike creativity.  The pictures are clear and distinct and some materials are used on other animals, which brings a strong sense of continuity throughout.  The materials used clearly indicate a clear likeness of what the actual animal looks like in real life.  Also by keeping the illustrations real and not drawn like a cartoon makes the book more realistic and makes a strong distinguished, polished look to the overall story.

          The author uses creative ways to impact the stanza are the use of the words.  Not only the words are cleverly written, the author placed certain emphasis on the fact or words so that the reader can be more engaged while reading the book.  The letters go around the shell not only to grab the reader’s attention, but it’s also in the direction of the shell’s shape.  The shell starts with large spaced spirals where the entrance to the shell is but then becomes smaller as the rings become closer to the back end of the shell.  We can see the words “ The beautiful spirals on topshell snails” in large print and the rest of the sentence “are miniature castles with tiny details.” (Franco) in small print.  In addition to this particular animal I loved the use of newspaper to resemble dirt and/or sand to make the ground look like the ground has pebbles in it.  Also the green felt looking paper was placed as seaweed surrounding the shell.  It gives the illustration more impact and at times you may not notice the additional background images that create a quality whole picture.  I think it makes the story more authentic to also show where or how you would find the animal in nature and in its habitat.  It makes the story more realistic.  In addition to this, the puffer fish has a similar layout and is depicted in its normal form and puffed up form.  I love the detailing on the fish, it looks like it has scales and is amusing to look at.

Here is an example of the how Franco uses language, font, and detailed illustrations to
emphasize how bees communicate with each other. 

          Another illustration that I found interesting is the first and last pages show a day scene and night scene respectively. The animals during the day include the snake, spider, ant, bee, snail and one migrating bird.  Each is out and about but in it’s own habitat.  Within the nocturnal illustration, the snake is hiding in a tree, the spider has made a web, the moth is flying and there are more migrating birds flying about.  These changes between the same scenes are significant and further tell the reader more about the animal and it’s habits. It’s an interesting way to show a subtle addition to the facts throughout the book.  We see the snake is out during the day but in a hole in a tree at night and all we see are his eyes.  The buzzing bee flying about in the air now replaced with a moth.

          After the story is finished, more facts are given about each animal in addition to what was mentioned in the story stanzas.  I think it adds a nice finishing touch to enhance the science knowledge of the story that was stated for each animal.  

          The whole story teaches children about all types of animals; insects, flightless birds, migrating birds, mice, reptiles, every kind of animal is mentioned within the story.  The rhymes are clever and use language thoughtfully.  The materials for the vivid illustrations and font usage and placement give the book amazing subtle touches that make it stand out from the rest.  This book should always be read when teaching about animals in the classroom.


          This was a fun project, I have never done anything like this.  It has allowed me to be creative and think about the quality of children's books and children's books authors.  Thank you both for assigning the blogs, I know I will use this information in my classroom.