Animalia

by Graeme Base

For ages 2+ years

View "Animalia" at Amazon

This astounding book is one of those rare treats that works well for kids aged 2, 5, 10 or 40. Each page is a minutely detailed, gorgeously drawn visual puzzle based around a letter of the alphabet. There is an alliterative heading, written almost tongue-twister style, such as "Crafty Crimson Cats Carefully Catching Crusty Crayfish" or "Lazy Lions Lounging In The Local Library." Then the page is filled with literally dozens and dozens of other seemingly unrelated objects, until - aha! - you realize that the names of every one of those tiny things begins with the same letter. The detail is endless, and endlessly charming - on the L page, the lions are looking at books titled "Lassie Come Home," "Let's Learn Latin" and "Life in Luxembourg" and on the D page, the dragons are dining on delicacies of dates and doughnuts. It's just delicious. We could go on and on - Base certainly does. It's witty and great for parents but accessible and amazing for kids. A true classic.

$19.95
$13.57

Review provided by The Savvy Source.