The Big Book of Animals of the World

Reviewed by: Barbara Merritt - Scarborough School Department, Scarborough, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: October 1, 2015

Review

This oversize board book depicts animals from around the world. The animals, pictured on pages with lots of white space, all appear rather expressionless. The bottom of each page shows they habitat and sometimes the kind of place (ie. a farm) where the animals on the page will be found. All animals and some parts of the landscape and a few other things are identified with a single word. Small mice are seen throughout, ride in a hot air balloon seemingly observing the scene. The final page is a map of the continents with a few animals on them. The book would benefit from more identification of exactly where each page is in the world and more expressive animals. Children tired of simple animal books with a few familiar animals might enjoy looking at this, but it is not a great offering.

Overall Book Score: fair