CREATURE FEATURES

Meet a plethora of fascinating fauna, fancifully sorted by distinguishing physical characteristics.

This whimsical foray into alternative taxonomy will introduce children to an enormous assortment of strange and startling beasts, fish, and fowl and induce eyestrain and fatigue in many doting caregivers. “Animals come in all shapes and sizes,” informs the text, adding that “most of the time, they are grouped into big families, like all the birds together and all the fish together. But there are other ways you can group them—like those with big noses and those who have antlers!” Extensive double-page groupings of creatures follow: “Enormous Eyes,” “Nice Noses,” “Excellent Ears,” “Terrific Tails,” “Dreaded Defenses,” “Huge Horns,” etc. With 11 categories of anatomical adaptations illustrated with roughly 27 different species per physical trait, there are nearly 300 weird and wonderful animals presented in this book. One animal in each set also features the characteristic that defines the subsequent group. The stylized but recognizable creatures are arranged, in varied size and proportion, on saturated, monochromatic backgrounds, each animal lovingly labelled in painstakingly neat yet vexingly tiny print. Dark letters on dark backgrounds prove especially difficult. A child who can remember the animals’ names or who reads independently can and will spend hours revisiting every animal in the book. Caregivers, especially the visually challenged, might be forgiven if they lack the endurance to name every beast at a sitting.

Engaging, exhaustive, and (for grown-ups) slightly exhausting.