Lifetime : The amazing numbers in animal lives by Lola M Schaefer illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

When I read a book like Lifetime I just want to rush to a teacher and beg them to use this book because there is just so much to discover here.

Lifetime is so much more than a simple counting book of even an exploration of numbers.  "Lifetime shows how many times one particular animal performs one behavior or grows one feature in a lifetime."

The book begins with a spider and her fragile egg sac. As you turn each page you will find so many fascinating facts in this book.  Did you know caribou shed 10 sets of antlers and a rattlesnake will add 40 beads to its rattle.
Every part of the animal kingdom is explored from seahorses to kangaroos, dolphins to butterflies.

The final pages are an excellent additional resource.  Lola M Schaefer explains how averages work and then explains in great detail how she arrived at the actual average she used for each creature.  For example the Red Kangaroo will birth 2 or 3 joeys every year and their lifespan is about 21.5 years. The maths of averages means after 20 years of having joeys the Red Kangaroo will have 50 joeys in her lifetime.

Here is the author web site.  We do have several of her books in our school library but I plan to add more.