Cuddly Critters for Little Geniuses

by Susan Patterson, James Patterson, Hsinping Pan (Illustrations)

Axolotes, chinchillas, and sugar gliders--oh my!

In this charmingly illustrated follow-up to their first bestselling collaboration, Big Words for Little Geniuses, Susan and James Patterson create a collection of the world's oddest and cutest animals that only little geniuses would know!


From sloths to spoonbills and panda ants to pangolins, little geniuses will love learning about all of the unusual, adorable animals that live on this planet. More than 50 little-known flyers, swimmers, and crawlers are included in this book, whimsically illustrated by artist Hsinping Pan. Cuddly Critters for Little Geniuses will remind you that nature contains many wonders--and these cute and curious creatures are no exception!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Nonfiction, Nature, Juvenile, Science

32 pages, Hardcover

First published August 27, 2018

About the author

Susan Solie Patterson has a Bachelor of Science/Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she was also an All-American swimmer. She is the author of Things I Wish I Told My Mother and Big Words for Little Geniuses, which was a New York Times bestseller.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked "Big Words for Little Geniuses" but this one falls short in the clever writing department. The illustrations are cute but do little to inform readers.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book showcasing the strange, wild and unique creatures around the world. (Now I can say that I read my first James Patterson book)

[Yaritza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun. The animal illustrations are amazing. A mixture of real animals and make believe. The colors are wonderful and vivid. I loved the descriptions for each animal. The images and descriptions were on point. A fantastic book that everyone can enjoy.

[Chinook · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations are cute and the girls were fascinated by the creatures.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars

Better than okay, but I didn't really like this. *sigh* I loved their Big Words for Little Geniuses, but this was just too much, too show-off-y? The best part was the illustrations; the text/information felt overwhelming in its complexity for this age group, and yet underwhelming in making me actually want to care.

[Gabrielle Stoller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Believe it or not, non-fiction books actually work well. Quite well actually. I use them in storytimes primarily with Kindergarten. Some kids like learning facts more than a fictional story. One doesn't need to worry about reading a non-fiction cover to cover (I rarely do)--pull out some of your favorite animals or pages or whatever your criteria is and do those!

"Cuddly Critters for Little Geniuses" has a lot of unique animals in it. For instance, I have never heard of a Potoo before. However, the illustrations are more animated in nature. They are engaging, yes, but sloths aren't purple. Kids prefer to see actual representation of an animal. For this reason, I gave the book a lower rating.

I was planning on using this book in a storytime. But I found others I did like better.

[Maxwell Rae · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains cute and interesting facts about unusual animals. Mum quite enjoyed learning about Panda Ants and other rare animals, however it couldn’t hold me attention. Not only was it quite long, but with no dialogue it became pretty monotonous. Dear mother tried her hardest to make it interested by playing with my ears when describing how big the ears of an Aye-Aye are. I think this book would be enjoyed by an older audience. 12 months old is a smidge too young.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute book, but little substance. Each creature gets a short description, limited to a fact or two. With the sheer amount, it would be difficuilt to keep track. Still, I can see how this would be a fun read - especially with pictures of the actual animals pulled up to compare. There's also plenty of lesser-known critters (great for introducing young readers to new words). If you have an animal fan who thinks they've heard it all, I can almost guaruntee there will be something new here.

[Dana Storytime Account · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title of this book made me really excited to read it but it was sort of an odd read in my opinion. The text read as a nonfiction book but the illustrations were very fictional and silly which made the two not really mesh well together for me. If a nonfiction book was the goal maybe use real photos of these animals, if a fiction book was the intention the wording could have been more fun I feel?

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Random was the first word that came to my mind when I started reading this new collection about animals. It certainly is random, but that's kind of the point. As the description says "Any child can identify a cow, but only your little genius will know axolotls from aye-ayes and potoos from pangolins." It is full of bright cheerful illustrations and interesting facts about animals you won't find in any ordinary animal picture book. For the animal lover in your life, this is a big win.

[Chance Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit I didn't read this, because I prefer my animal fact books to have photographs instead of drawings. That said, I do love the illustrations, and I find it so weird that James Patterson and his wife have the exact same dedication to each other in the book that they co-wrote, except one says "Bride" and the other says "Husband." (Those words are not technically parallel!)

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaints really are a) I wanted MORE info on most of the critters, as many (half? ) I was relatively or completely unfamiliar with, and b) because we didn't know a lot of the animals my daughter and I wanted to look them up to see real pictures. Honestly the mark of a great book, but makes an already late bedtime a challenge. ;)

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOSH I LOVE THESE BOOKS SO MUCH! Cute illustrations! All kinds of weird and wacky and gross and funny and interesting animal facts that I didn’t know about animals I hadnt heard of. And if I’m having this much fun, how much more fun will a little kiddo have? I hope the Pattersons keep making more of these. I want them all.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not great, but better than "just okay."

The illustrations are cute, but would prooooobably be better off as photos to really show kids what the animals look like. The tidbits are informative, but dry.

[Jj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many animals here, not enough information. ONE or TWO animals per two-page spread is perfect. THREE is a crowd. FOUR is an excess. And FIVE is just ridiculous. My advice: scale back on the sheer number of animals, and this will be a better read all around, more enjoyable and more informative.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute illustrations and interesting facts, but there is just too much crammed on each page. The eye can't follow it all, and kids get bored going through that many. This was a great concept that just fell horribly flat.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been an elementary school librarian for a decade, so I’ve helped thousands of kids research animals, and this book was still a breath of fresh air. Fun new facts without taking an hour to read aloud. Even made me google the pink fairy armadillo! Well done.

[Christine (Tina) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like Big Words for Little Geniuses, this one does the job well! Lots of info, in a very kid-friendly manner, about all sorts of "critters" - the stuff kids love! Beautifully and colorfully illustrated as well! Hope someday soon to read it to my little human critters as well!

[Sharie · Rating 3 out of 5]

- like the selection of critters
- like the illustrations but miss the photo version of some that I've never heard of
- don't like the categorization; would have preferred by location
- don't like title insinuation for "geniuses"

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adorable images and a cute premise. But, the text gives so little information on the animals listed that my child was left with so many questions. If you read this, be prepared to google most of the creatures referenced.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, whatever. It takes more than a list of interesting animals to make a good children's book. Decent art would have helped. Some sort of through story. Meaningful facts. And afterword. This isn't bad, but it feels a bit lazy.

[Anna Hudson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has misinformation. For example, roseate spoonbills get their pink color from the crustaceans they eat, not from pink plants. It also has nonsense “facts” such as “the sunset moth likes to pretend it’s a butterfly.” And that’s just the first 3 pages…

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is for an older (pre-k / K+) child with insatiable curiosity and possibly a love for animals. There's a lot going on--both facts and illustrations--for young toddlers. Either way, an adult reader may learn a new thing (or ten) while reading.

[Marti (Letstalkaboutbooksbaybee) · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare that i find a nonfiction children’s book that I actually like, but this was a really great one! Adorable illustrations and neat little facts about animals that I didn’t know about before!

[Margaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are cuddly creatures EVERYWHERE. Give this to children who are in their “unicorns and kittens” phase to see what their new favorite animal is.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An informative read with great illustrations.

[cat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a trap. I should've known. There wasn't even a sloth IN the book. Just on the cover and a small excerpt on the inside cover page with the "About this book". Rude.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are lots of books out there about unique animals, weird animals, gross animals, etc. But this one is special. I loved the direct, yet simple, way the Pattersons described these creatures.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that this introduces so many animals and the text is fine, but I think kids would find it irresistable with photographs (perhaps just in an index).

[Sarah Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute picture book that was published in 2018. I would show this to my class during read aloud time, especially students who love reading about animals.