Special Tricks

Special Tricks is an expository text that describes the remarkable ways animals have of catching and eating food, keeping safe, and escaping danger.  The style is informative and conversational.

The text is composed of a variety of sentence types, including sentences with dependent clauses and compound sentences.  Multiple captioned photographs on each two-page spread show the animals’ methods in dramatic close-ups.  Some photographs are in numbered sequences.  The word stretch is printed in a way that shows its meaning: str-e-t-ch.   Apostrophes are used for possession and contraction.  Ellipses are used to create suspense.  A sequenced diagram in a sidebar adds detail.  The book concludes with a graphic organizer and an index.

Some words, such as swallow, armadillo, muscles, and slime may require clarification.  A number of words are used in both singular and plural.  Several homonyms appear: their/there, no/know, to/two/too, and new/knew.

This title is from the Sails Literacy series. Hook readers and ignite their curiosity - over 700 levelled texts with bright, colourful, sophisticated designs.