This year, Maxwell Eaton III has published three books in his new The Truth About… series. A busy year for him! I looked at The Truth About Dolphins.

The book has three different levels of narration. The main text is a simple, straightforward nonfiction text:

“This is a dolphin. Dolphins look like fish. But they aren’t”

You could totally read aloud just the main text and have the book make perfect sense. And you’d probably still have an engaged audience because the cartoon-like illustrations are so fun to look at.

But within those illustrations, there are also rectangular text boxes that give tiny snippets of additional material:

“Dolphins breathe air through a blowhole….Fish get oxygen from the water using gills.”

But the part of the book that will make kids giggle is the third level of narration: voice and thought bubbles coming from the dolphins and other creatures in the book. They make witty asides and wisecracks.

The back matter was fun to look at. The spread is designed to look like an open file folder with photos and notes that give extra information. It also includes a list of Tucuxi (the smallest dolphin)-sized books and or Orca-sized books for further reading.

The Truth About Dolphins: Seriously Funny Facts about Your Favorite Animal by Maxwell Eaton III. Neal Porter Books: 2018

Alyson Beecher hosts the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge at kidlitfrenzy.com. Visit there for more great nonfiction picture books!