Ever Heard of an Aardwolf?: A Miscellany of Uncommon Animals

by Madeline Moser, Barry Moser (Illustrator)

Illustrator Barry Moser teams with his daughter Madeline to introduce some of nature's most peculiar animals--and his new tinted engraving technique perfectly captures their curious beauty. An appendix offers additional information on each animal featured in the book, from aardwolfs to viscachas. Full-color illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1996

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nineteen unusual animals are highlighted in this beautifully illustrated picture book, from the titular aardwolf - a member of the hyena family - to the babirusa, a tusked hog from Indonesia. Each animal is briefly described by Madeline Moser, and lovingly reproduced in etchings by Barry Moser. As Miriam, the friend who recommended this title to me, has noted in her own review, children and adults both have a lot to learn from this book. I already knew that the platypus was the only mammal that does not give birth to live young (thank you, Natural History Museum!), but had no idea that the emperor tamarin was named for its resemblance to Emperor William II, or that the pangolin digests its food with the aid of the rocks and pebbles that it likes to eat.

Readers who enjoy learning such tidbits as this, will appreciate Ever Heard of an Aardwolf, while those with an interest in engraving will delight in the painstaking detail of the illustrations. An informative afterword provides a much more detailed examination of each animal, for more advanced readers. All in all, a delightful little book, sure to please budding zoologists - especially those with a taste for the unusual.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short descriptions of a dozen or so unusual animals, each accompanied by a strong, dramatic etching of the animal. The text is a little dry but presents interesting information succinctly. Even adults may get something out of it if they are open-minded about learning. For instance, did you know that the Slow Loris can actually move like lightning? They only creep along the branches so slowly to avoid rustling the leaves and alerting their insect prey. The book also has pages with more info on each animal in the back.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

My animal-loving 5 & 7 year olds actually learned about some new animals from this book, although they'd previously encountered roughly half of them. See entire list below.

The woodcut illustrations are wonderful, with a whole explanation at the back on how they were made.

Aardwolf
Vicuna
Loris
Pangolin
Viscacha
Naked Mole Rat
Horseshoe Bat
Okapi
Proboscis Monkey
Solenodon
Platypus
Bush Dog
Bush Baby
Babirusa
Uakari
Emperor Tamarin
Zorilla
Zebu
Flying fox
Horse (not uncommon, but with some interesting info in the back)

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting facts about some lesser known animals, such as aardwolf, pangolin, viscacha, and babirusa. Barry Moser's detailed illustrations were engraved on a synthetic wood and hand-colored with transparent watercolors.

[Jason Orendorff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The engravings in this book are astonishing. They are dramatic and realistic, and the subject matter ranges from unusual to wonderfully strange.

The prose is interesting enough and well written (and not at all cutesy, thank goodness) but the pictures are the prize.

There are not a lot of children's books like this. Stark, serious, beautiful.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Children will learn basic zoological info about such unfamiliar animals as aardwolves, babirusas and viscachas in this nonfiction text that has held up well despite it being more than two decades old. Each animal is rendered in a beautiful wood engraving and watercolors.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty long, and very informative, so we read a few pages of animals each night for a week.