Are reindeer just make-believe? Snow way! They are a real kind of deer. They are also called caribou.
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Shutterstock.com (Reindeer); Tommi Syvanpera/Alamy Stock Photo (Lichen); Jim McMahon/Mapman® (Map)
Reindeer Are Real!
From the December 2026/January 2027 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will read an informational text and compare it with a fiction story.
Lexiles: 430L
Featured Skill: Compare Texts, Fiction and Nonfiction
Standards
Shutterstock.com
- Sharp antlers help scrape away ice. Yummy lichen grows under the ice.
- They have a fuzzy nose. It warms the air as they breathe.
- They even have furry hooves. They can walk in cold snow.
Jim McMahon/Mapman®
[in yellow] Where reindeer live.
Reindeer live in the cold, snowy north.
Reindeer live in very cold and snowy places. Their bodies have special adaptations that help them live there.
Reindeer travel in big groups called herds. The biggest reindeer herd ever seen had about 1 million reindeer!
Tommi Syvanpera/Alamy Stock Photo
lichen
Their favorite food is lichen (LYE-kuhn). It grows on the ground. Reindeer like lichen so much that people call it “reindeer moss”!
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