The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals

by Sami Bayly

SHORTLISTED FOR THE CHILDREN'S INDIE BOOK AWARD 2020

Marvel as you enter the fascinating hidden world of ugly animals in this encyclopaedia of the animal kingdom's most unusual and beauty-challenged species. It's time for ugly animals to shine!

With more than sixty ugly animals to explore, this compendium of the unusual celebrates the beauty in 'ugliness'. Children and adults alike will pore over the breathtaking scientific illustrations of unusual animals, debating their relative ugliness and merits, learning about science and nature along the way.

Featuring illustrations and facts about the thorniest species the animal kingdom has to offer, from the naked mole rat to the goblin shark, aye-aye, sphinx cat, blobfish and many more 'ugly' beauties.

This gorgeous hardcover book is illustrated in exquisite detail by exciting new Australian talent, Sami Bayly.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Childrens

129 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 24, 2019

About the author

Sami is 27 years old and is currently based in Newcastle, NSW.

She has released 4 books, 3 of which are part of The Illustrated Encyclopaedia series: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals and The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature.

With her 4th being the first of a newly released series, How We Came To Be - Surprising Sea Creatures.
All published by Lothian/Hachette Australia.

Over the years Sami has won and been nominated for numerous awards, these include:
Winner of the Children's Indie Book of the Year Award - Indie Book Awards
Winner of the Environmental Award for Children’s Literature Non-fiction - The Wilderness Society
Winner of the Sun Project Shadow Judging - Shadowers’ Choice for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA
Winner of the Best Designed Children’s Non-Fiction Illustrated book - Australian Book Design Awards.
2020 GOLD Winner for the Juvenile Non-Fiction Award - Foreword Reviews
Honour for the Eve Pownall Award - CBCA
Shortlisted for the Book of the Year for Younger Children - ABIA’s
Shortlisted for the Booksellers' Choice 2020 Book of the Year Awards - ABA’s
Shortlisted for the Children’s Book of The Year - Queensland Literacy Awards
Highly Commended for the NSW Community Educator of the Year - AAEE
Longlisted for the World Illustration Awards (Science & Technology category) - Association of Illustrators
Included in the top 50 Favourite Australian Books - Booktopia
Winner of the Emerging Artist Competition - The Olive Tree Market
Winner of the Start Your Studio Scholarship Award - Jasco Art
Winner of the William Fletcher Foundation Fund - University of Newcastle
Co-winner of the Scientific Illustration Scholarship - Australian Museum

Her books have also been published overseas in numerous countries including the UK, USA, South Korea and Russia. With future publications to be released in Sweden, Israel, China and more.

To keep up to date you can follow Sami on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samibayly/

Reviews

[The Book Squirrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features some 100 or so animals which are "ugly". Each animal gets a full-page illustration and a page of information, including a "fun fact" panel. Some of the animals really are ugly (hairless Chinese crested dog), some are funny (southern elephant seal), some are interesting (helmeted hornbill) and some are just scary (star-nosed mole).
This would be a great reference book for simple school projects, or just a trivia-type book for children to flip through looking at the illustrations.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful, fascinating book. The gorgeous illustrations of the ugly animals will get children reading it, but the information contained within is also fascinating. I like how the author emphasises the beauty within these creatures and also that often the "ugliness" is actually a useful adaptation the animal needs to survive. Excellent "goldilocks" level of information for the target audience.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been wanting to read this since it was first released- I found the cover and concept intriguing. The information re each animal was brief and quite depressing. So many animals are endangered through human actions.

[Sharlene Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great pictures and layout but not comfortable with the guesstimates of information through the words ‘may’ ‘suggest’ ‘likely’ etc. in what is being considered a non-fiction text.

[Jennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful and original contribution to an animal book collection. Sami Bayly is a natural history illustrator and her scientific background is evident in the array of detailed, realistic and fascinating paintings of sixty animals from around the globe. These include birds, mammals, fish, insects and reptiles - a host of familiar and not so well known creatures.

The design and presentation of the book is regal - hardcovered, gold embossed lettering, a framed and elegantly laid out table of contents, a brief but telling Introduction by the author sets the scene to celebrate the ugly animals in our world and their importance in the food change and for ecological balance. Sequenced in alphabetical order, a double page spread for each animal is presented. Alongside the amazing illustrations are a page of fascinating facts about our planet’s most unusual animals presented consistently with a common layout and content for each animal. This includes the scientific name, a description, conservation status, diet, location/habitat, a comparative size diagram against a human body or body part, fun facts and some occasional added information.

The book does not include an index, but this is not a detraction as it is not required to locate the information on each animal. I do think a map of the world indicating the majolocations of the animals would be a nice visual addition thought his may be challenging for a number of the marine animals.

2020 CBCA shortlist: Eve Pownall Award
2020 Indie Book of the Year Children's category

[Sandy Sexton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book after reading a review, and felt I wanted to support the young artist. Indeed, the illustrations are fabulous and fun, but the text giving information about the animals was somewhat wanting. I'm not convinced the author had a clear sense of just who her audience would be or how readers would approach the book. Perhaps it wasn't meant to be read cover to cover, but the illustrations invite an adult reader to do just that. A young person seeking information for a school project might not find the text format repetitive and limited and would probably find it useful. Nevertheless, it is the illustrations which bring joy.

[Caspette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost don’t mind what the book is about as the illustrations are gorgeous but having said that the information about the animals in this book is perfect for its target audience of kids. Middle grade kids could read it happily and it is easy to read to younger kids.

As a family we adore this book and loved discovering about unusual animals in the world. Highly recommended for anyone with science loving kids.

[Brian Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem of a book in every way. The illustrations are simply extraordinary. They 'live' which is so essential to natural history art. They also emphasise the unusual and bizarre nature of animal life and yet leave room for the child in us to exclaim "its cute" . The whole book is cute but at the same time hugely educational for whatever age reader. Edward Lear would feel justified and satisfied.

[Rhys Causon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for a beginners guide sort of thing but definitely leaves the reader wanting more.

Luckily there’s always the internet and other books to learn about the creatures in this book.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The students I teach absolutely LOVE this book! Not only is it informative but the illustrations are gorgeous.