What do you think?
Rate this book
Illuminature: Discover 180 Animals with your Magic Three Color Lens
Explore ten of the world's most diverse environments and reveal their hidden secrets with a magic, three-coloured lens that illuminates each page in a kaleidoscope of colour.
Discover the dark and mysterious creatures of the night, whose super-sensory powers allow them to live and survive in the shadows, then switch the lens to step into daylight, where the heat of the sun supercharges the secret lives of creatures big and small. Finally, use the third lens to reveal the luscious plant life of every habitat as you travel through a jungle, a reef, grasslands, woodland and uncover a world that never sleeps with Milan-based design-duo, Carnovsky.
Discover the dark and mysterious creatures of the night, whose super-sensory powers allow them to live and survive in the shadows, then switch the lens to step into daylight, where the heat of the sun supercharges the secret lives of creatures big and small. Finally, use the third lens to reveal the luscious plant life of every habitat as you travel through a jungle, a reef, grasslands, woodland and uncover a world that never sleeps with Milan-based design-duo, Carnovsky.
64 pages, Hardcover
Published October 4, 2016
2 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Williams
131 books22 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 27, 2016
Actual rating: 4.5 stars. The concept deserves 4 stars alone. Each section focuses on a different habitat and the animals that live there, specifically animals that are primarily day or twilight/night creatures. The cool thing is that the animals and plants are on the same page, overlapping with each other. It's only with the 3 separate lenses that you're able to see each particular group. Think those cheap red and blue paper glasses that revealed hidden messages that were buried underneath red and blue dots. It's just like that. My only complaint (and the reason I took off half a star) is that the night color is just a little too dark. It's difficult to see the animals. Maybe that's what they were going for, but it was just a hard for me to tell what was what.
December 28, 2020
Comprei pras minhas filhas, mas quem acabou gostando mais fui eu mesmo.
February 3, 2017
Like Halley’s Comet, I am allowed out once every 70 years, or so, for the night. On one such trip to the trendier side of London I was supping an ale in another Hipster Bar, but this one had a difference. The walls were covered in overlapping paintings of animals in different colours. So what? The trick was revealing said animals. The lights in the pub changed colour every few minutes revealing a different set of creatures that reacted to that colour. It was cool after a few shandies, but now you can enjoy this process sober in a new book all about using coloured lenses to find hidden animals.
‘‘Illuminature’’ by Rachel Williams and Carnovsky is a book all about exploring a hidden world to the full. The book come in a very satisfying hardback A3 size and is full of double page spreads that represent different habitats. On the same page are animals that come out at day and at night, as well as the fauna that they inhabit. However, to the naked eye it is all a blur. You must use the included lens set that picks up the individual elements; Red for the day, Green for the fauna and Purple for the night.
There is something satisfyingly Victorian about ‘‘Illuminature’’ as the technique feels like it was invented in an era were curio was King; Twitter had yet to be invented to waste those precious moments. In keeping with this both Williams and Carnovsky do a great job of supporting the style of the era. Williams’ write up is educational and gives information on the ecosystem you are about to witness.
This is all very interesting, but could have been written in any encyclopaedia. It is the design duo Carnovsky whose illustrations are the true stars of the show. The images have a very authentic Victorian appeal to them that transports you back to what you imagine those times were like. This was when an Elephant could be seen in the Zoo, if you were lucky, but more likely stuffed in the Natural History Museum or in a book like this.
The very nature of ‘‘Illuminature’’ means that some of the drawings get a little mixed and hard to see. This is especially the case with the night animals as the purple lens is a lot less effective than the other two. This may be in keeping with trying to see the animals as if they were in their natural habitat, but it does strain the eyes. I also felt that the lens itself was a missed opportunity. The book is certainly large enough for more than one person to read, so two lenses would have been better. Also having separate colour sets would have worked better as you are always having to close one eye to be able to see the animals.
‘‘Illuminature’’ is a book that will appeal to different ages. Is it for children? The text is simple to read and the illustrations are awesome, but is it a little too Victorian for them? Perhaps the best audience would be the family as a whole. This would make a great coffee table book for anyone to pick up and have a go with. With this sharing in mind, it is a shame that a few more lenses were not included. Original review on thebookbag.co.uk
‘‘Illuminature’’ by Rachel Williams and Carnovsky is a book all about exploring a hidden world to the full. The book come in a very satisfying hardback A3 size and is full of double page spreads that represent different habitats. On the same page are animals that come out at day and at night, as well as the fauna that they inhabit. However, to the naked eye it is all a blur. You must use the included lens set that picks up the individual elements; Red for the day, Green for the fauna and Purple for the night.
There is something satisfyingly Victorian about ‘‘Illuminature’’ as the technique feels like it was invented in an era were curio was King; Twitter had yet to be invented to waste those precious moments. In keeping with this both Williams and Carnovsky do a great job of supporting the style of the era. Williams’ write up is educational and gives information on the ecosystem you are about to witness.
This is all very interesting, but could have been written in any encyclopaedia. It is the design duo Carnovsky whose illustrations are the true stars of the show. The images have a very authentic Victorian appeal to them that transports you back to what you imagine those times were like. This was when an Elephant could be seen in the Zoo, if you were lucky, but more likely stuffed in the Natural History Museum or in a book like this.
The very nature of ‘‘Illuminature’’ means that some of the drawings get a little mixed and hard to see. This is especially the case with the night animals as the purple lens is a lot less effective than the other two. This may be in keeping with trying to see the animals as if they were in their natural habitat, but it does strain the eyes. I also felt that the lens itself was a missed opportunity. The book is certainly large enough for more than one person to read, so two lenses would have been better. Also having separate colour sets would have worked better as you are always having to close one eye to be able to see the animals.
‘‘Illuminature’’ is a book that will appeal to different ages. Is it for children? The text is simple to read and the illustrations are awesome, but is it a little too Victorian for them? Perhaps the best audience would be the family as a whole. This would make a great coffee table book for anyone to pick up and have a go with. With this sharing in mind, it is a shame that a few more lenses were not included. Original review on thebookbag.co.uk
May 1, 2020
This book is amazing! Travel through the different environments of the world. Learn about all the different plants and animals at each destination. The illustrations are astounding. The best part is each page is actually three images. With the special filter viewer included you can view the daytime animals, nighttime predators or the vegetation. Not just a book to read, but also a rich learning experience. Put this in your reference library next to the encyclopedias, it's that chock full of wonderful information.
July 21, 2023
One of the coolest, most fun nonfiction books I’ve ever read! It comes with different color lens to see different day animals, plants, and night animals depending on what color you look through. Then, each page gives a description of the location, some statistics about size and about the animals who live there. There’s a species guide in between these pages to give us some more detailed information about the animals we found using our lenses—both day and night animals.
So much fun! It’s like iSpy but with fun hidden images, cool facts, and you’re learning new things!
So much fun! It’s like iSpy but with fun hidden images, cool facts, and you’re learning new things!
May 14, 2024
You guys, listen to me when I say that this book is amazing! It is stunning how the different colored lenses make you see different drawings! Blue is for nightlife, green is plants, and red is daytime animals. Every page is beautifully illustrated with so much detail! There is great information, too, telling all about the plants or animals seen in the picture. This book is great for a unit study on wildlife, but is also an amazing one just for fun! I hope that you love this book as much as I do!
Follow @bronteandwilder Instagram for fun book recommendations!
Follow @bronteandwilder Instagram for fun book recommendations!
September 4, 2021
A brilliant book to spark creativity and curiosity in little ones. Each section embodies 3 set of things which could be seen only using separate lenses (the lenses come along the book). It talks about different habitats, plants, day animals, night animals and more, sure to keep the curious minds occupied for hours.
January 31, 2019
Seriously one of the coolest book s I have ever seen! It comes with glasses that let you look at the scene in three different ways : daytime creatures, nocturnal creatures and their habitat. There is so much information, we could spend days just looking at this!
May 7, 2017
Beautiful book - the 3D glasses idea is great, and will appeal to all ages.
June 28, 2018
My kids loved this! Science that is fun!
July 26, 2018
Really cool concept! I’ve never interfaced with a book like this before (using a magic viewing lens for nighttime creatures, environment, and daytime creatures).
October 26, 2018
Great book with beautiful colors. I’m not sure it is written in language children can understand. It’s more of a family book. Unfortunately the book only came with one pair of 3-D glasses.
December 19, 2018
really interactive fun. Kumon centre kids liked it.
January 4, 2022
This is really fun and a cool concept. Recommended.
March 15, 2018
This is very educational book that talks about ten of the world's most diverse environments and reveal their hidden secrets. Each page is beautiful and really brings out the true beauty of each environment. I would have this book in my classroom.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews