Author: Debbie Levy
Photographer: Joel Sartore
© Date: 2021
Publisher: National Geographic
Pages: 43
Chapters: No
Photographs: Yes, every page layout
Publisher Recommended Age: 1-5 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No, but a listing of the animals in the book is provided as well as notes from the photographer and author
Summary from Joel Sartore website: This unique alphabet book is a dazzling journey through the animal kingdom. It invites children and their families to linger over Sartore’s spectacular portraits of animals both familiar and little known, to look these incredible creatures in the eye and marvel at their shape, form, and expression. From armadillo to zebra, each animal is showcased in an original poem by Levy, whose clever, quirky verse and exuberant wordplay will delight readers young and old. The photos are part of Sartore’s mission to photograph all the animal species in human care, with special attention given to rare and endangered species.
Page Pig Thoughts: Combining gorgeous animal photographs with fun poetry should be the recipe for greatness. I really wanted to love this one, but got hung up at the beginning and never recovered. The science being described at the beginning of the alphabet did not seem correct to me (please see Item of Interest #1 below), and that made me prone to questioning what was being said in the rest of the book and tending toward nitpicking (See Item of Interest #2 below). If I really do understand the science of caterpillars correctly, that made me question how that poem was allowed to pass in a National Geographic Kids book. I usually trust National Geographic for reliable information and a poetic license [pun intended] does not seem entirely justified here.
The poetry was fun and I enjoyed following the dancing words across the pages. The variety of animals made for an entertaining alphabet. The listing of animals in the photographs and their IUCN status was useful. Which all means that I was sad that the science bit left me disappointed and unable to enjoy the book as much as I would have liked.
Family Unit: The author note indicates that she feels a closeness to the animals of the world, kinda like a family
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Blip about the environment changing through climate change on “W is for Walrus” page. Author note mentions climate changes.
- Last poem says that humans hold the fate of living beings in our hands, will we be destructive or thoughtful?
Positive Items:
- Different styles of poetry are highlighted throughout the alphabet.
- Some common animals are used in the alphabet, some are not so common.
- All of the photos and poems are rather engaging and make you want to look/read over and over.
Items of Interest:
- “B is for Butterfly” – The poem indicates that the caterpillar spins a cocoon and becomes a butterfly. I am not a lepidopterist (person who studies butterflies and moths), but as far as I am aware, a butterfly molts into a chrysalis and a moth spins silk into a cocoon. If that is true, then the poem is misleading. The poem is still fun and the butterfly images are lovely.
- “H is for Hyena” – The poem indicates that the hyena is a scavenger. It has been awhile since we read The Hyena Scientist by Sy Montgomery, but if I remember correctly, not all hyenas are scavengers. There are four types of hyenas. Neglecting the insectivore aardwolf [how cool that is a real animal?] from this discussion, there are three other types of hyenas. Striped and brown hyenas are scavengers. Spotted hyenas, which are featured in The Hyena Scientist, will scavenge because hey, free food, but they primarily hunt. Spotted hyenas are skilled and fierce hunters. The picture in this book is the spotted hyena, so saying that it is a scavenger is not incorrect, but it also misses a big part of the lifestyle of that hyena.
- Potty humor – duckling has some poo behind him, but it says that we all do it
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Not really a series, but Animal Ark [review] is another picture book with Joel Sartore photographs
- Photo Ark has several other books
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