PRETTY CLOSE, BUT NOT THE SAME

A cheery explainer for younger readers a bit hazy on the differences between animals like turtles and tortoises, or crocs and gators.

“Pretty close. / But not the same,” goes the refrain as Fleming pairs and compares several sets of “confusable critters.” Some of the physical features she points to, such as the differently shaped snouts of dolphins and porpoises, may not be immediately discernable in real life, but Stilwell makes them prominent in her simplified figures. And even untrained eyes should have no trouble telling striped tigers apart from spotted leopards or monkeys from apes (only monkeys have tails, after all). The entry distinguishing bison from true buffalo should be a particular revelation for American readers of any age accustomed to using the two terms interchangeably. Though Fleming limits herself to only seven pairs of animals, her bouncy rhyme and clear, comprehensible content give the book a leg up over Karen Jameson and Lorna Scobie’s A Llama Is Not an Alpaca (2023). For budding zoologists with a newly kindled interest in the topic, it also serves nicely as a lead-in to Lucy Thorn and Lucy Rose’s broader and more detailed Tell Us Apart (2024).

An intriguing topic, presented in animated verse.