Today I have the pleasure of reviewing a Lonely Planet Kids book called Animal Atlas. This is a wonderful hardcover jam-packed with all kinds of fascinating facts about animals from all over the world. Interesting elements are included such like lift-the-flap, fold-out maps, and life-size critters to surprise you! 🙂
What I am Reviewing
Animal Atlas: Amazing facts, fold-out maps and life-size surprises.
Lonely Planet
Anne Rooney
Lucy Rose (illustrator)
Lonely Planet Kids.
Hardcover, 32 pages, Age 9-12.
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.
Zoology, Atlas, Animals, World-wide, Environment,
Explore the animal kingdom like never before with the Animal Atlas from Lonely Planet Kids. Unfold maps to reveal animals from every continent and lift the flaps to see their unique environments and habitats.
Discover a world of animal facts, life-size photos and creature features-from a bear’s paw and a baby turtle to an anteater’s tongue and a goliath birdeater, the world’s heaviest spider. EEK! All drawn to scale so you can measure yourself against them.
The Details of Animal Atlas
The book is divided into seven sections: North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia, Oceania & Antarctica. Each with a map of the major environments as well as illustrated and photographic depictions of some of the animals living there.
As you can see above, many of the pages are fold-out pages. Large two-page spreads walk you through the variety of animals living in each of these areas. Most, if not all of the animals come with a small map to show you where they live in the world.
All sorts of fun facts are presented, some of them in a lift-the-flap format. Every section has at least one lift-the-flap area.
I appreciated that we didn’t just learn about animals. A variety of scientists such as Darwin, Linneaus, and Merian are also presented.
Each animal has snippets of information beside them. Details about thte country they are from, followed by information like their scientific name, size, diet, their status on the endangered list, and where they live.
True to the nature of Lonely Planet books, they aspire to educate thoroughly. To that end, they provide a habitat key to broaden the understanding of geo-systems around the world. The key changes per environment, but the colour-coding remains consistent. For instance, Oceania has biomes not seen in North America. Some biomes share similar biomes, thereby tropical forest in one biome is colour-coded the same throughout.
Recommendation
This is a great book. I love how it talks about the different parts of the world, illustrating that area with a chosen animal. You don’t just see mammals, but arthropods, birds, fish, and more. I was amazed at how large of the nests the sociable weaver could get.
I was saddened to hear of the loss of the Saiga antelope. Did you know that 50% of these temperate grassland antelope have disappeared due to a bacterial infection?
Within the pages of this hardcover book, animals as diverse as shrimp, whales, spiders, tortoises, storks and elephants can be found. I appreciate there isn’t a focus on just one type of animal.
Don’t you just love books that encourage you to look further? I found myself inspired to dig deeper into the plight of the Saiga antelope. Books like these are an encouragement to learn more about our world. The full-colour illustrations (whether drawn or real-life images) are an added encouragement.
I heartily recommend Animal Atlas to you. It is such a lovely addition to a study in geography, science, and history.
Animal Atlas is a beautifully illustrated book that would be an excellent addition to your home library or have out as a coffee table book. It encourages conversations about animals and their biomes, the world we live in, and the effects of climate change.
This looks like a lovely book packed with neat facts and fun ways to discover it.
I really liked it. a great book.