"Swamp Chomp," by Lola Schaefer was a very cute but informative book about the food chain in the swamp. The book has beautiful illustrations to go along with the imagery that the book creates for the readers. The author uses sound words for the different things that the animal does, such as when the animal is moving or eating. This would be a great book for the teacher just wanting to read an informative book or at the beginning of a science lesson. ( )

This book is a great learning tool to show children the food chain in the swamp. I could hear the words on the pages, they give a great vision on the sounds of the animals. The illustrations are very eye catching, my daughter didn't want to turn the page until she could see what each animal was doing, and she examined the pictures again after we finished reading. ( )

All sorts of swamp critters along the food chain chowing down. ( )

This book describes a food chain in a swamp. The author of this book shows imagination by using the sounds of the creatures that are in the swamp. For example, you can hear the fish, turtles, alligators, etc. It gives students ideas about how the food chain works. I feel like this book would be great to use in a science classroom because with this book you could do different activities to go along with it. ( )

Simple, bold text describes the life in a pond until the last few pages, when an orgy of eating breaks out and the food chain progresses from mosquito up to alligator. I really would have liked more text - it's so extremely minimal that you don't really realize you're looking at a food chain unless you start with the endpapers or until you get to the end. Example, "Mosquitoes flit. Sit./Dragonflies swoop. Dip." It goes like this throughout the book - one page is just sounds, "Simmer Bellow Drone" etc. Some of the text doesn't clearly match the pictures. When it says "Crayfish crawl. Carry." there is nothing shown in the crawfish's claws. "Bullfrogs wait. Lay." doesn't explain if the bullfrog is laying eggs? Or just....laying?

However, the pictures do a good job of showing swamp life. There are lots of animals, many small and hidden, and activities and details in the art to discuss. I have to say, honestly, that Meisel isn't one of my favorite artists; I'm not really a fan of watercolors in general (I don't like Brian Floca much either) but it really does work for this book. Especially in the end, when all the animals jump into chomping action, the pictures are lively (but not scary) and I can see kids getting really interactive with this part.

Verdict: Maybe not a definite first purchase, but if you do any kind of nonfiction for storytimes you'll want to add this. I'm already thinking of ways I can use it as a flannelboard, interactive game, etc.

ISBN: 9780823424078; Published 2014 by Holiday House; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to the library's wishlist