Every once in a while you get a book in your hands for reviewing and you just fall in love. As soon as I saw this beautiful book “Animal Camouflage” I was like “Son, look at this book”, and talking to other people about it. I just really, really like this book and thought it a very clever design.
Now I have to admit that my 12 year wasn’t quite an enamoured as his mother was, but he thought it was pretty interesting, and had fun flipping through the pages and finding the more difficult animals to spot. I am also concerned that I won’t be able to show you well the beauty and wonder that is contained within this book.
I’m trying to figure out just what I like so much about it.
First: It’s an unusual rendition of a camouflage book. It’s not animals hiding in their areas, with their colours and stripes and stops within a multi-coloured background. It’s white with dark lines, so the animals are right there and can be seen, some easier than others. But no colours to look for, just shapes and outlines, hidden with all the white and lines.
Second: the information is presented in a clear format. Do you see how each area has a colour? That colour is used for the four pages it takes for each area. This makes it easy to differentiate between areas.
Third: It’s a lovely book to hold. Feels good in the hand. It’s pretty to look at and to exclaim over. I showed it to a friend and she agreed it was a nice book to hold in your hand, and loved the ways the animals/scenery was represented. “It’s very clean”.
Fourth: It’s educational. The text is brief, but more animals are covered than just a couple for each area. I do wish that they talked about the TYPE of camouflage that each animal possessed, like the gazelle with a stripe down it’s belly. The spots of a giraffe helping it blend into the browns of the savannah, and the brown pelt of the cottontail helping it hide in the underbrush.
Fifth: I think that it’s perhaps less about the camouflage of animals, but more how they create a fun camouflage search and find to help children want to learn more about the different animals represented. Honestly… it’s a FUN book to look through, to find the four reindeer or the 10ish wolves or can you find the anaconda slithering along the ground?
If you get stuck, or your child needs help, the answers are in back of the book.
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Animal Camouflage: Search and find Sarah Dennis & Sam Hutchinson Princeton Architectural Press Hardcover, ages 6-9 Animal, elementary, nature Reviewed for: Raincoast Books. Where can you Find it? Amazon Link. |
It looks lovely. What an interesting looking book.
I really like this book