Review by Horn Book Review
With vibrant mixed-media illustrations and playful interactive text, this book presents thirteen different animal species and their unusual collective names: "a conspiracy of lemurs," "a flamboyance of flamingos," etc. Animals are pictured in various poses and described by loosely rhyming verse while additional questions ("Who's sleepy?"; "Who's waving?") encourage readers to linger and examine each colorful spread. Further information on the animals is appended. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Several global animals and birds organized by their collective names are briefly described along with habitats and behaviors in four-line rhymed couplets.Digital drawings emulate a crayon/marker style and reveal a particular species arrayed in different poses across colorful double-page spreads. "A SLOTH of BEARS": "Wrapped up warm in fuzzy suits, / they fill themselves with nuts and fruits, / then snooze the winter days away / until it's spring, when they can play." Brown bears, black bears, polar bears, a panda, and others are shown in trees and rivers and near ice-capped mountains, growling, waving, eating fish, and sleeping. As an added activity, several search-and-find questions ask children to carefully explore the illustrations for answers. "Who's scratching his head?" The collective names are intriguingwho can't love "a conspiracy of lemurs" and "a lounge of lizards"? Readers may notice that lesser-known variations are used, such as "a company of angelfish" rather than "school" and "a bouquet of hummingbirds" rather than "charm." Two further pages ask readers to take a second look at each preceding spread, offering an additional question and image to find for each animal presented. A "Who's Who" addendum offers an extra paragraph of information for each. This nicely culled selection of facts provides glimpses of the chosen animals in an enjoyable and interesting approach. (Informational picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
