Jess Keating has added a new title to her nonfiction series, The World of Weird Animals. Readers may already be familiar with the entertaining and enlightening Pink Is for Blobfish or What Makes a Monster? titles already in the series. This time out Keating has been busy "Discovering the World's Most Adorable Animals," as the subtitle announces.
The layout of the contents features a full-page photo of the animal, so that readers can get a good look at each cute creature. The facing page has a paragraph describing the animal and some of its characteristics. Below that is a cartoon depiction with a further point of interest or even a warning ("Watch Out- They Bite!" we learn about the quokka). And a sidebar lists the scientific name, size, diet, habitat, and predators or threats to the creature. This makes it easy to browse with a young animal lover who is only interested in the pictures and maybe a fact or two, or for older readers to take a deeper plunge into scientific details.
For elementary school classrooms and libraries that are searching for more books to satisfy their nonfiction readers, this series is a perfect addition. And for those readers who are willing to branch out into fiction with lots of animals in the stories, direct them to the author's My Life Is a Zoo middle grade series. I met Jess in person at NCTE and she is just as much fun as her books!
48 pages 978-1524764470 Ages 5-8
Recommended by: Suzanne Costner, School Librarian, Tennessee USA
See more of her reviews: https://fves.library.blogspot.com/
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"Cats of Instagram" meets National Geographic in this hilarious picture book about nature's cutest weirdos from the author of Pink Is for Blobfish!
The Internet pretty much runs on cute animal photos, but "cute" is so much more than clickbait kittens and insta-pups. Cute is for feathery-gilled axolotls (pronounced: ax-uh-LOT-ulz), shy pygmy hippos, poisonous blue dragons, and armored pangolins. All of these animals are cute, but they've also adapted remarkable ways to survive in their unique environments.
With her signature blend of humor and zoological know-how, Pink Is for Blobfish author Jess Keating shows how cute animals can be more than just a pretty face in this latest installment of the World of Weird Animals.--from the publisher
Also in this series: What Makes a Monster?; Pink Is for Blobfish
