An Animal Community (My World - Grl H) Paperback – Picture Book, January 15, 2010

I am a prairie dog advocate and wildlife relocator. I am known as the "prairie dog lady" in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This is an excellent book for teaching younger grades about the life of the prairie dog. On February 2, 2010 (Prairie Dog Day in the West) I used this book to teach 1st and 2nd graders about the nature and importance of prairie dogs. I would have given this book 5 stars, except that there is an incorrect photo on page 22. The picture labeled "ground squirrel" is actually a prairie dog, specifically a Gunnison's prairie dog. While prairie dogs are technically a type of ground squirrel, the common ground squirrel is smaller in size, has more protruding ears, a narrower and pointier snout usually with a black not pink nose, eyes set closer together, and a longer, bushier tail. Also, common ground squirrels live isolated or sometimes in pairs, but not in the complex social structure of the prairie dog.