Review by Booklist Review
At first, the audience designation for this picture-book-cum-fact-compendium is a little confusing. Fairly substantial paragraphs on monsters, creatures (real and imaginary), legendary figures, extinct species, and other assorted beasts share pages with cartoon-like illustrations geared to a young audience. Fanciful drawings (e.g., a chorus line of Komodo dragons) spill across pages, accompanied by all sorts of information (the two-page spread on Nessie also mentions that Scotland has the world's highest proportion of redheads and one of Europe's oldest living trees). Facts are confirmed, myths are debunked, and unknowns are acknowledged. As readers sit back and enjoy this barrage of data, the target audience becomes clear. This is not for researchers fulfilling school reports but rather for their younger companions, those future Trivia Night champions who memorize random facts and glory in obscure tidbits. Most children's librarians are very familiar with these young seekers of knowledge and their insatiable thirst for facts. This colorful, engaging offering will be welcomed by neophyte nonfiction fans, and the perennially popular topic should be a sure draw.--McBroom, Kathleen Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
