This book is Beautiful. Yes, I know that's the title of the book but it really is - beautiful. It's a book of beauty on so many levels and I wanted to call my review Beautiful but I can't use the title of the book as a title for the review so I wrote it backwards instead!
It's beautifully presented for starters. and that's before you even start to examine the text and the illustrations. It's a large format book, maybe some folk would call it a coffee table book, depends on the size of your coffee table! However to contemplate this book being shrunk to conventional hardback or paperback size would be a travesty.
This book celebrates a variety of creatures to be found across our planet. Details of each animal and how they have evolved are succinctly and articulately expressed to readers of all ages to access.
The art work is stunning. Each animal is presented as a beautiful water colour and here's where the size of the book really impacts because at times you think you're actually looking at the real life creatures. The Fossa entry is a perfect example. Don't know what a Fossa is? No, I didn't either. So the book is informative and will introduce you to animals you may not have heard of before.
Some of the facts will astound you - for example did you know that the Pygmy Seahorse can swim 500 times its own body length per second?! If there were aquatic animal olympics I think this species would be in for a stab at gold!
It's book to be dipped in and out of. It's a book to be kept and treasured. It reminds us, in case we might have forgotten, what a beautiful planet we are privileged to exist on and how great is the need for us to revere and nurture its abundant diversity.
My thanks to Readers First for a prize copy of this book. They require a winner to write a review for their website the title of which must not be the title of the book hence the references in the first paragraph in case you were wondering!
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