Creatures Great and Small

Eight words for the wild things and the ways they move.

Meet each word one at a time, then take the quiz to lock them in.

1. 1 burrow noun
2. 2 den noun
3. 3 prowl verb
4. 4 reappear verb
5. 5 bashful adjective
6. 6 sturdy adjective
7. 7 roughly adverb
8. 8 smoothly adverb

Nelson's word

noun

Burrow. A noun. I file it under animal homes, the underground kind. A burrow is the tunnel or hole an animal digs and lives in, safe below the ground: a rabbit's burrow, a mole's burrow, a fox's burrow. When you read that a creature vanished into its burrow, picture it slipping down into the dark, out of the weather and away from danger. Now, this word has two hats. As a noun it is the home. But say the moles burrow under the lawn, and suddenly it is an action, the digging itself. Same word, different job. We sort those hats in Practice.

The rabbit dashed into its burrow the moment the fox appeared.

Nelson's word

noun

Den. A noun, and a short one. I file it beside burrow, under animal homes, but a den is the resting place, the sheltered spot where a wild animal sleeps and keeps its young. A bear has a den, a wolf has a den, a fox has a den. It need not be underground; it can be a cave, a hollow log, or a nook among the rocks. When a story says the cubs were safe in the den, it means they were home, warm and hidden. State it precisely: a den is where a wild animal rests.

The bear slept all winter in a warm den under the fallen tree.

Vinny's word

verb

Prowl! To move low, slow, and silent while you hunt! When the cats prowl through the grass, they do not stomp and they do not shout; they creep, quiet as a shadow, eyes locked on their prey. That is the verb, and it is mine, and it takes patience even a hero must respect. A lion prowls, a wolf prowls, a house cat prowls across the kitchen at midnight. Remember it this way: to prowl is to hunt on tiptoe. Learn the word, and you will feel the hush in it every time.

The hungry cats prowl through the tall grass, watching for mice.

Vinny's word

verb

Reappear! To come back into sight after you were gone! When the groundhog reappears, it pops right back up where you can see it. That is the verb, and it is mine, and watch the front of it: re- means again, so re plus appear means to appear again. A star reappears from behind a cloud, a rabbit reappears from its burrow, the sun reappears after the storm. Learn that little re- once, and a whole family of words comes with it: refill, rebuild, return. Again and again and again, that is what re- promises.

The groundhog ducks into its hole, then reappears a moment later.

Jake's word

adjective

Bashful. Oh, a gentle one, and it is mine. As an adjective, bashful describes a creature that is shy and easily startled, quick to freeze or hide: a bashful mouse, a bashful deer, a bashful new student on the first day. Its Frown is bold, the one who marches right up without a worry. Could we be more specific than saying a rabbit was scared? We could say it was bashful, which tells the reader it was shy by nature, not just frightened once. Same picture, sharper edges. Magnifique.

The bashful mouse froze whenever a shadow crossed the floor.

Jake's word

adjective

Sturdy. An adjective, and mine, describing a thing that is strong and solid, built to hold up: a sturdy nest, a sturdy branch, a sturdy pair of boots. Its Frown is frail, the thing so weak it might break at a touch. When a beaver builds a sturdy dam, it means the dam is strong enough to stand against the river. Could we be more specific than saying the bridge was good? We could say it was sturdy, and let the reader trust it will hold. That is the gift of a precise word.

The sturdy nest held firm through the wind and the rain.

Benny's word

adverb

Roughly. An adverb, and I own it. An adverb tells you how an action happens, and roughly means it happens in a rough, not-gentle way, with force and no soft touch: the wave crashed roughly on the rocks, the puppy played roughly with its toy. Here is my coaching. When you write, do not just say an animal moved. Ask how. Did it move roughly, hard and heavy, or did it move some other way? Pick the adverb on purpose, and your sentence gets sharper. You can do better than plain, and roughly is one way how.

The big dog nudged the ball roughly across the yard.

Benny's word

adverb

Smoothly. An adverb, and mine. It tells you how an action happens, and smoothly means it happens in an even, easy way, with no bumps and no trouble: the otter slides smoothly into the water, the plan went smoothly from start to finish. Now hear the coach in me. Smoothly and roughly are a matched pair, opposite ends of how a thing moves. When you describe an animal, choose which one fits, the even glide or the hard shove. Make it sharper, every time, and here is how: name the manner, and let the reader feel the motion.

The otter slides smoothly down the muddy bank into the river.