This striking, oversized list-the-tab survey of the animal kingdom provides a whizbang visual and interactive experience but a rather less satisfying delivery of facts. Each spread has a different unifying gimmick: white-on-black silhouettes; black-on-white silhouettes; spots-and-stripes details (which, when lifted, reveal tiny pop-outs); flap diecuts that reveal snouts and feet, eyes and tails and ears; hoof- and pawprints. Beneath each flap is a cleanly detailed painting of an animal and a related factlet. “A group of lions is a pride, but a group of tigers is an ambush.” “Marmots can whistle.” “Some shrews are poisonous.” While the facts revealed are for the most part appropriately revelatory—female giraffes’ horns are fuzzy while males’ are bald; who knew?—they feel plunked down in isolation from one another and often beg follow-up questions that go unanswered. Once perused, it’s likely to gather dust. (Pop-up nonfiction. 4-8)
