An Anthology of Intriguing Animals

by Ben Hoare, Daniel Long (illustrator), Angela Rizza (illustrator)

A book to treasure, filled with stunning photographs, beautiful illustrations, and fascinating information on all the animals that children love.

Discover the incredible stories and myths behind your favorite animals--whether it's how the koala got its name, or which animal the Ancient Egyptians thought rolled the sun across the sky. Children will pore over the spectacular photographs, including detailed close-ups, and learn fun facts at the same time.

Containing more than 100 species, this beautiful modern bestiary lets you find the animals that interest you, and possibly uncover a new favorite along the way. With easy-to-read text and large images, this compendium of creatures invites young readers to explore the animal kingdom and get to know each animal individually--from big to small, feathered to furred.

An Anthology of Intriguing Animals is an attractive gift for children who can't get enough of wildlife and nature, lavishly bound in a beautiful gold-foil and texture cover, finished with gold-foil-edged pages, and including a ribbon bookmark.

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

224 pages, Hardcover

Published October 2, 2018

About the author

Ben Hoare is an author and editor who specializes in natural history. He has written or contributed to more than 40 reference books. His work has also appeared in BBC Wildlife and Birdwatch magazines and on BBC websites. He is a Fellow of the Zoological Society in London and presents regular talks and lectures at the Natural History Museum, London.

Reviews

[Miranda Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever want to know....more?

More about the sea creatures, the land animals, the flying birds and the tiny bugs?

"Some humpbacks will blow a bubble ring around a shoal of fish, herding them together so the whale can eat them in one mouthful."

Well look no farther, because this book is the right one for you!

I absolutely loved all of the unique facts and exciting blurbs about the animals.

It's so incredibly fun (even for me, as an adult!) to learn about the animals that inhabit our earth.

"A tiny lantern shark could fit in an adult's hand and can glow in the dark, while a whale shark is as large as a truck, but eats nothing bigger than a shrimp."

And that's not to mention the GORGEOUS illustrations.

I really, truly believe that the illustrations of a book is a HUGE make-or-break moment. And this makes it. It makes it perfect.

Angela Rizza and Daniela Terrazzini do an absolutely amazing job with this book.

Every time I turned the page, I was stunned - absolutely stunned - by the beautiful images and photographs decorating it.

"In the cool of the night, hippos leave the water to munch grass, moving around like herds of giant lawn mowers."

This is quite possibly one of the most perfect books ever.

Though, if I could provide a suggestion - I would LOVE to see one of these for every continent. I would love to see an Animals of North America or Animals of Africa book. It truly would be amazing.

YouTube | Blog | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Snapchat @miranda_reads

[Avada Kaddavra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wieder ein wunderschön gestalteter Band dieser Reihe. Die Tierportraits sind bunt gemischt aus bekannten und weniger bekannten Arten, die jeweils eine Doppelseite mit Bild und Text erhalten.
Der Text ist auch hier manchmal vielleicht etwas schwierig zu verstehen, trotzdem lieben wir diese Reihe mit der tollen Aufmachung und dem Goldschnitt sehr🥰

[benita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been looking at this book since I started working at the book store back in 2019, and when I finally bought it last year I was thrilled! The book did not disappoint! It’s beautiful; the pictures, the illustrations and the simple text about each animal. I believe young readers and adult readers will enjoy this book.

Happy reading!♥️

[Lesr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book with short descriptions and full color photos. I found myself headed to youtube to check out videos of many of the animals, whose descriptions and details I had never heard before!

Such as the male pheasants unique dance that gave me Mask of Zorro vibes, and fish that fly the length of 3.5 football fields above water. With predators below the surface and above, life is HARD for these guys!

It will make a great gift for my nephews.

Also, the only thing I would change is making the pages a nice glossy finish. They are matte paper finish, which perhaps is better for the environment?
I do not know. But there’s that. lol.

[Teo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The photographs are pretty much the only good thing in here. The order of the animals is completely random instead of alphabetical or something more sensical like taxon, and the information given is very basic. Usually a random fun fact, which at times can be interesting, but you learn very little overall. Compared to the level of detail given in the astronomy entry in this series, this is leagues behind. Also, seeing the animals being referred to as 'it' repeatedly gets tedious fast.

[Martine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so much fun to read. Interesting informations on plenty of animals. I new a lot of them but I would recommend it for children.

[Luanne Ollivier · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually stop and appreciate a cover before opening a book. The cover of An Anthology of Intriguing Animals from DK Canada is so beautiful. A rich dark turquoise with gold title and images. Take the time to look at the pictures on both front and back - they're quite detailed. Little Guy and I had fun picking out the different animals pictured. The edges of the pages are also gold. We couldn't wait to see what was inside!

And what we found was absolutely wonderful! One hundred and four creatures from the animal kingdom - sky, land and water - are profiled. Each animal is showcased on a double page layout. A full colour, detailed photo accompanies the text. (The photo of the mandrill is stunning.)There are two paragraphs of what Little Guy likes to call 'interesting facts' for each animal. Those 'interesting facts' also include stories and myths. The amount of information provided is just right for small ones. And I was thrilled when I heard him sharing some of what he learned with Mom.

We decided to start at the beginning and use the built in satin bookmark to mark our progress. Little Guy was able to identify many of the creatures, but there were a few new to even Gramma - the viscacha, pangolin and the loris. The facts were fascinating - and yes, Gramma learned as well! Did you know that elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror? And also remember the faces of elephants they have not seen for years. Hence the phrase 'elephants never forget.'

There's a Tree of Life layout at the end of the book that explains mammals, invertebrates etc. A glossary covers key words such as herbivore, blowhole etc. and there's on last visual guide on each animal.

As with all DK books, they layout and information is just right and the photos are amazing. You could call it a coffee table book for kids! An Anthology of Intriguing Animals would make a wonderful gift for any child - one that would be treasured for years to come. Adults will be leafing through it as well.

[Tihana Knjigožderonja · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://knjigozderonja.wixsite.com/kn...

BehHoare čovjek je koji zaista poznaje životinje; znanstveni je pisac, a uređivao je poznatu BBC-jevu emisiju BBC Wildlife. Također, jedan je od samo petnaest ljudi koji su primili DilysBreese medalju za znanstvenu komunikaciju koju dodjeljuje Britansko udruženje ornitologa. Što to uopće sve znači? To znači da, osim što držite malo težu, savršeno ilustriranu knjigu, u rukama imate pravo znanstveno djelo, ali sa crtežima! Pri tome, ovo znanstveno djelo Hoare je radio upravo sa svojim kćerkicama! Koliko je to zakon?

Zapanjujućom fotografijom i prekrasnim ilustracijama, ova enciklopedija istražuje divlje životinje svijeta, od najvećih kitova do najmanjih insekata. Antologija očaravajućih životinja oduševit će i nadahnuti djecu (ali i odrasle) koja vole životinje. Otkrit će nevjerojatne činjenice i fascinantne priče o svojim omiljenim životinjama, kao i nešto o onima za koje nikad nisu čuli! Otkrit ćete zašto je usporeni ljenjivac tako trom i još mnogo toga!

Kroz knjigu se svaka životinja otkriva u zapanjujućim fotografijama i prekrasnim i edukativnim opisima. Djecu (moram li napominjati i odrasle?) će zaintrigirati svi mali, zanimljivi detalji. Antologija također istražuje priče i misteriozne mitove koji okružuju brojne životinje. Ova enciklopedija u sebi sadrži zanimljive činjenice o 100 životinja. Savršena je za djecu da je čitaju sama ili zajedno s roditeljima kao priču pred spavanje. Ili kao što smo muž i ja napravili, čitali smo Antologiju jedno drugome naglas prije spavanja. Djeca nisu uvjet za uživanje u ovoj knjizi.

Pronađite životinje koje vas zanimaju i usput otkrijte nove favorite…

Koja vam je najdraža životinja?

Grickajmo knjige zajedno!

[lilac · Rating 5 out of 5]

بهترین بود!! کلی خوش گذشت.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clairement, ce livre s’adresse aux enfants, mais j’ai quand même appris des choses intéressantes. Et les images (photos et dessins) sont tellement beelllleees!

[Mehsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een mooi dierenboek over verschillende bijzondere en wat normale dieren. Met foto's, kleine weetjes, en ook prachtige illustraties die er perfect bij passen. Ik heb niet veel nieuws geleerd maar toch veel genoten terwijl het lezen. Ook mooie gouden zijkanten op pagina's.

[Midnight.reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

- DK edícia so zlatými stranami
- encyklopédia
- pre deti od 10 rokov
- viac ako 100 druhov zvierat
- nádherne ilustrácie, fotografie a stručné zaujímavosti

Ak máte doma malého objavovateľa a milovníka zvierat, zbystrite. Hľadáte pre vaše dieťa knihu s naozaj veľkým výberom zvierat, reálnymi fotografiami a stručnými zaujímavosťami? Tak už nehľadajte, práve ste ju našli.

Zvieratá a ich úžasný svet čitateľa nevedie žiadnymi omáčkami a ide rovno na vec. Po otvorení knihy nájdete obsah so zoznamom zvierat a hneď na ďalšej stránke nás kniha už vťahuje do zvieracej ríše.

Každému zvieraťu je venovaná dvojstránka s ilustráciou, fotografiou a zaujímavosťami. Nenájdete tu teda základne info aké je zviera veľké,kde vo svete sa nachádza či ako vyzerá. Dozviete sa, čo je na ňom výnimočné a aké zaujímavé schopnosti ovláda.

Ríša zvierat je omnoho rozmanitejšia, než si väčšina z nás dokáže predstaviť. Rozšírte si vedomosti, vyberte sa do morí, pod zem či nad vrchy kopcov. Objavte nové fascinujúce zaujímavosti o známych aj neznámych živočíchoch. Stačí len otvoriť túto knihu.

[Sarah Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think most kids know when a book is special. Sometimes it's the story or illustrations that stands out and makes it memorable. My four year old grandson knew immediately with this book: because it's just beautiful put together! Besides appearances, it's got good information for a range of ages. The two-line, bold faced facts for each animal appeals to adult and child. The longer narrative descriptions are informative but not over the top. The choice of animals is well thought out. Some old favorites and a couple of new ones. A good value all around.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautiful book! There were photos and illustrations for each animal and great little descriptions and fun facts! The back has a glossary and visual index. The gold edged pages and ribbon bookmark were a nice touch!

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

With great animals and great artwork, this big book was fun for me and my kindergartner as we read a few pages each night before bed.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of animals for the youngest learner and up. There is a two page spread for each animal , with a photograph and an artists rendering of the animal as well as a paragraph of interesting information. This book also has a companion called The Wonders of Nature.

[BVC · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un buon libro con target giovanile che ad ogni animale incluso dedica due pagine comprendenti una fotografia, un'illustrazione di piccole dimensioni (in certi casi si riporta l'esemplare di sesso sia maschile che femminile, in particolare laddove le differenze sono particolarmente vistose) e una breve descrizione con informazioni etologiche.

[Mrs. DL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love reading zoology books for children, not gonna lie.

[Janika Puolitaival · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harvoin luen kirjan niin että katselen ensin kuvat. Tämän kirjan kuvia olen selaillut iltaisin jo parin viikon ajan. Innostanut minua tarttumaan pitkästä aikaa myös värikyniin. Upeasti, värikkäästi kuvitettu teos. Sopivasti tietoa nuoremmille lukijoille.

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, but this is pretty insubstantial for a DK book. I also really hated the way that the animals were organized--vaguely largest to smallest? This sort of book, no matter how young the audience, should be organized taxonomically, or at the very least alphabetically.

[Askou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wunderschönes Buch (Buchschnitt in Gold!) mit Fakten über Tiere, die auch für Erwachsene interessant sind!

[Kirsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Anthology of Intriguing Animals,
by Ben Hoare

The first thing that pulled me towards this book was its beautiful front cover, standing out with its strong teal cover, embossed with beautiful gold images of animals, with its stunning gold gilded page edges, this beautiful book was just calling out to me. Now. this book is just as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside. Filled with over 200 pages of beautiful images and stunning artwork, followed by wonderful and intriguing facts.

This book offers the reader(s) the chance to go on a world adventure, discovering and learning about 104 of the worlds animals. You will learn some fun, intriguing, weird and interesting facts about the animals, as well as how some of these animals appear in myths around the world.
This book would easily please anyone of any age who just wants to learn a few facts about animals from around the world.

As an adult I thoroughly enjoyed this book myself, I'm enthralled by beautifully illustrated reference books. I even learnt so much!! As a nanny, I find this book a fantastic piece of educational material, as my little charges are very interested in animals, and this book is a fantastic way for us all to sit down, and learn about animals from all over the world. Mr 2 enjoys this book the most, and has even learned of some new species of animasl, his favorite being the Mandril ! This book is a treasure to read, and the kids just love the beautiful images accompanied with the gorgeous artwork.

All in all, an absolutely fantastic read, one that can be read over and over again, by anyone of any age, there is definitely something to be learned in here for everyone. In fact this book, is actually now my coffee table book, and has been a hit with all my visitors (young and old alike).

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a terrific information book about animals targeting 8 to 10 year olds with straightforward and accessible text and a constrained amount of information on each animal - two paragraphs + an interesting or unusual fact set out in different and bold font to match the heading. The first paragraph on each animal tends to focus on interesting or unique characteristics, the second provides information about habits, habitat, food etc - varying with each animal.

The overall design lives up to what we expect from DK but with some embellishments. Each animal is shown via a large photograph with the background removed, but replaced with a pastel shaded background colour that compliments the animal's natural colours and with soft outlines of relevant plant life on the page. In small print the exact animal name and location is provide in small font on the image.. There is also a smaller, accurate painting of the animal from a different perspective.

the book has an index, in no apparent order of its 110 animals with a very small image of each creature sitting to the right of the title. What lifts this book above most fairly easy animal book sis the scientific information at the end. This includes a tree of life, a glossary and then a small (about 4 cm) image of each animal, in the same order, its page number, scientific name, animal group, length and location.
The book is clearly aimed at browsing and stimulating interest rather than meeting a child's' school project needs and it meets this purpose very well. For me, I would have liked to see some sort of reason for the sequence of animals - such as aligning with the tree of life pictured at the end - that is - organized by animal group and family.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful book this is! From the outside cover to the inside pages, this book is one that will be used over and over again. If you’re an animal lover or know of one, this book should be on your radar. With amazing pictures and a condensed, educational summary of over 100 species of animals, this book is sure to capture your attention.

I love the way this book is presented beginning with its cover. The teal cover with the gold lettering, the design takes center-stage. The gold continues along the top, bottom and fore edges of the book. When closed, the book is teal or gold (pages included) with a silky green ribbon attached to be used as a bookmark. Such a beautiful book!

From ocean life to land animals to birds, the book is springing with life. Each animal has a two-page spread with a realistic photo and facts about that animal. Some of these photos are big and very detailed. Bats, viper-fish, raccoon, moles, geckos, and pheasants, are some of the animals. The animals presented are not exotic but I found the information presented is fun and informational.

Fact: If we could drink like a camel, we would have to drink a glass of water every two seconds for 10 minutes.
Fact: Kangaroos lick spit onto their arms to help them cool down.

I really enjoyed this non-fiction book for kids. DK did it again and I have to commend them for another fantastic book for children. My six-year old granddaughter would love this book. She has decided that she is going to be a scientist when she grows up and I can see her carrying this book to bed with her at night and studying up on her animals.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, rounded up.

This is a high-quality hardcover book with gorgeous gilded elements and a ribbon bookmark, and it introduces kids to a variety of different animals through vivid photographs, drawings, and about two paragraphs of text about each animal. This will appeal to animal enthusiasts of different ages, with older kids reading all of the text to themselves and younger ones listening to a read-aloud or just looking at the pictures. There are details related to predatory animals that could scare very young, sensitive kids, but the general concepts are simple enough for little ones to understand.

I would have liked this better if the animals had been organized alphabetically or by type; it appears that they were just roughly organized from largest to smallest. Also, I thought it was odd that the author spent so much time talking about the role of different animals in different cultural and religious belief systems. Since there are only two paragraphs about each animal, I didn't think that some of the details should have made the cut. If someone wants to know about animals in mythology around the world, they can read a mythology book.

I received a free copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine in exchange for an honest review.

[Harry Ennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Anthology of Intriguing Animals by Ben Hoare
This book in its purest form can be described as an anthology of what intrigues and fascinates us about the animals of the natural world. It displays many key features of animals and gives you a feel for each creature and its environment.
This is achieved via a collection of facts, images, illustrations and stories which are informative and wide-ranging. Over 100 different creatures from the animal kingdom are celebrated in this book, from giant humpback whales to tiny leafcutter ants, from gorillas to gila monsters and boas to butterflies. It really shows the astonishing uniqueness that animals have evolved over time.
This book is an educational journey through the kingdom of animals, each of them special in their own right. Although not an exact science, animals are presented in order of size, however this not does not detract from the experience where we explore information about animals both familiar and not familiar.
If the aim of this book is to encourage a love of animals, may I just say this book beautifully achieves it, not only with its illustrations and photographs but with its beautiful use of language to convey its point, such as the hungry fluff ball that is the baby puffin. This is a good casual read, excellent for beginners and also interesting for experienced nature enthusiasts.

[Clwseattle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything about An Anthology of Intriguing Animals is beautifully done, from the intriguing cover to the illustrations to the unbelievable actual pictures placed on perfect backgrounds, even the inside cover paper. Many of the animals in the pictures are looking at you straight on which makes them even more mesmerizing. The look of An Anthology of Intriguing Animals is quite reminiscent of old encyclopedia's with its ribbon bookmark, gold edging, heavy card stock paper and covers each textured with a different tapestry of animals to find.

Each little animal description is interesting, fun, easy for even a young one to understand and often with a fascinating bit of legend about the animal. There is a bit of social justice activism opinion in some of the animal blurbs which I found unnecessary but, while annoying, it doesn't take away from the beauty of a book that should be on every child's shelf.

Full disclosure: I skipped the snakes.

[Asho · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful book. S and L received it from our neighbor as a Christmas gift, and when they unwrapped it I was overcome with the urge to page through it myself. The cover is such a pretty color with such a lovely design, the pages have gold leaf, and the animal illustrations inside are excellent. The text is good, too. There are some pages where my almost-7-year-old says, "I already know that!" but for the most part we found out surprising new information about the animals. We read this by going to the table of contents and taking turns choosing an animal to read about. S gets practice looking things up, finding the right page number, and then I have him read the bold print (which is just a sentence or two) and then I read the rest of the page. S is definitely the biggest fan of this book at our house, but L and F are happy to look at it and listen to it as well. This is definitely a keepsake book I can see having for years to come, assuming it holds up well.

[Gael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun, filled with cute/amazing animals with a photo and illustration of one on each page spread. I love to learn about new animals, or new facts about well loved animals.

I was a little disappointed that there were no sections nor rhyme or reason to what order the animals were in.

I only gave it 4 stars (while I gave An Anthology of Aquatic Life 5 stars) because the writing in this is a little too punny/cheesy/little-kid oriented. It was done in a way that annoyed me a little bit. Like I think they could have said things just as simply, that a young kid would definitely understand, but without the really bad jokes that kinda felt like talking down on the reader (but I'm not a kid, so what do I know). I felt that the Aquatic Life one was written so that any age could understand it, but it didn't feel like it was talking directly to a kid.

[Mehsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I spotted this gorgeous book at the library and of course couldn't resist bringing it home with me. The inside is just as pretty believe me. With gorgeous big photographs that make it seem like the animal is ready to leap or walk out or illustrations in a very pretty style. We get around 3 facts per animal (or group of animals) and those were written in an interesting and fun way that just made you soak it up in your brain like a sponge. I loved reading about all the different kinds of animals from bugs to fish to mammals and marsupials. A lot of the facts were already familiar to me, but I still found a couple of new ones.
So, do you like animals and pretty pictures? Be sure to read this book!