Except Antarctica: A Hilarious Animal Picture Book for Kids

by Todd Sturgell

Featuring a rogue group of cheeky animals who love nothing more than a challenge and a flustered, helpless narrator, this meta-leaning and hilarious picture book about animal habitats on every continent will have kids (and their adults!) laughing every time they pick it up.

Turtles are found on every continent EXCEPT Antarctica. But not for long!

When a David Attenborough-esque narrator explains that turtles are found everywhere except Antarctica, one determined turtle sets out to prove him wrong. After recruiting other non-Antarctic animals along the way--much to the narrator's dismay--the turtle and his adventurous friends travel through fields, forests, and cross an entire ocean to reach their goal. But what exactly do they do once they get there?

Perfect for anyone who's ever gone a little too far to prove a point, this nature-documentary-gone-wrong is a gleefully funny lesson in determination and the beauty of having a contingency plan

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Humor, Nonfiction, Childrens, Nature, Storytime

40 pages, Hardcover

First published July 6, 2021

About the author

Todd Sturgell is an illustrator and author. He lives, draws, and hikes in the North Carolina mountains with his amazing daughters and an overactive rescue dog, Max (named after his favorite picture book character).
He loves to draw dinosaurs, mysterious creatures, and characters with big dreams. He is drawn to stories that explore childhood imagination, stem-related themes, and journeys full of wonder.

Reviews

[Tina Loves To Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a children's book with Non-Fiction Animal Facts that I read to my twin boys. I loved this cute story, and it has some great animal facts that was written in away that young children can understand them. I also love that this book made my boys laugh so hard, and I found it so cute and fun to read. This book is great for K to 1st grade. The pictures are so cute, and the pictures pull children into the story. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Sourcebooks Explore) or author (Todd Sturgell) via NetGalley, so I can give honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What fun!! The narrator is a character in this story trying to tell the reader about animals that can be found on every continent but Antarctica. Well the animals are having nothing to do with that!. They are going to Antarctica. Even if they have to defy the narrator to do so. The story works. It just does. The illustrations help play up the comedy and kids of all ages will enjoy it. Plus the Narrator does get to throw his facts in at the end.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great deal of fun. My kids giggled a lot. More on the "entertainment" side than "education" side, but does include some tidbits about the animals and is definitely worth sharing with littles who enjoy a bit of silly.

[Boni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful in every way. In my top five picture books of the year.

[Kurt Neumaier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shout out those wacky animals

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great storytime book.

[Corinne Colbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A super funny book of animal facts recommended by a super funny boy.

[Pink Leaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty cute! My favorite facts from the book: “Dung beetles navigate using the Milky Way!” & “Bees have a favorite color: blue.” Also, I liked looking at the map of Antarctica with all of the research bases from all of the different countries marked on it.

*Could have done without a couple dung beetle comments. Also, a little bit about global warming at the end. But still ended cute & positive.

[Bonnie Grover · Rating 4 out of 5]

My students and I loved this book! Thank you @sourcebooks

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

A turtle, on discovering that his kind is everywhere in the world except Antarctica, sees it as a personal challenge. Before you know it, the turtle is joined by other animals that exist everywhere but Antarctica wanting to remedy that exception. Along the way, Todd Sturgill sprinkles the picture book with cool facts and wonderful illustrations.

Despite the subtitle, Except Antarctica: A Hilarious Animal Picture Book for Kids isn’t precisely hilarious, but it’s funny enough to entice adults as well as kids. Five contrarian stars!

[Hope Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute picture book that tries to read like a nonfiction book on animal habitats until the turtle interrupts the story after being told that turtles don't live in Antarctica. Turtle is very offended by being told he can't do something and sets out to prove that turtles can live in Antarctica. He sets off to Antarctica to prove his point and along the way meets several other animals that don't live in Antarctica, but like turtle, decide to join him to prove they can. The group of animals make it to Antarctica and realize all the reasons why they actually don't want to live there.

Kids will enjoy the dialog between the narrator trying to narrate animal facts and the interruptions of the animals. The illustrations are wonderful and support the storyline. Almost accidentally, students will gather a lot of animals facts through this book, too. I enjoyed the animal fact cards at the end of story as much as I did the actual story! This book will also be useful in classrooms when teaching about animal habitats and the different biomes.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very whimsical and very visually attractive look at a turtle who goes against the grain – and against the nature documentary narration – and tries to get to Antarctica. What makes it even worse for the poor voice-over guy is that no end of other animals dislike being told they don't belong on Antarctica either, and so join in on the trek. This is one of the better books doing this, taking the standard form of images and narration and having the characters in the drawings break away from the narrator's intent and demand their own destiny. So it's quite a shock when the last third – if not more – is an educational bit, briefly telling us trivia about the critters we've met, and about Antarctica, and even throwing in some climate change science to boot. All this is welcome, but it did seem to jar when the previous pages had been such silly fun. To such an extent, even when this book did a lot more than I expected and did it well, I still think four stars is my ceiling for it.

[Milton Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book about animals that are found on every continent except Antarctica gets interrupted by said animals who gather together to travel to Antarctica to prove the narrator wrong. Once the animals reach the new continent victoriously, they quickly observe that they are not suited to the surrounding environment.

This picture book is both informative and lots of fun! The way that the animals interact with the narrator is a lot of fun and keeps the kids giggling! A fun picture book to read aloud.

Find it today: https://ent.sharelibraries.info/clien...

Ashley C. / Milton Public Library #CheckOutMPL

[Librarylady · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was attracted to this book by the quirky cover, but found the inside even more amazing. When the cover turtle is told by the narrator that turtles live on every continent but Antarctica, he sets off to prove him wrong, Along the way, other animals join him on his journey. The humor had me literally laughing out loud in many places, and I especially loved the dung beetle. At the end of the story, there is great information on the animals included in the book. I'm not sure how to catalog it, but I can definitely say it was a winner in my opinion.

[Amie Wisz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book! I know my students are going to love the format and different points of views. I have already recommended this book to the rest of our Reading Madness selection team at school for next school year's Reading Madness. I have a feeling it will be one of the finalists! I will also be purchasing this book for my classroom. If you want a silly book to make you smile, definitely check this one out!

[Katie Reilley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing #bookexpedition an early copy to read & review.

What’s not to love about a rule-breaking, adventurous group of animals hilariously disobeying the narrator’s orders just to prove that narrator wrong? A super fun picture book with amazing end pages, loads of non-fiction back matter on the animals featured and the continent of Antarctica, information about climate change, and a glossary.

Preorder now! Publishing 7/1/21.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an eARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Explore via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

What a wonderful concept for an interactive picture book. I think this would pair fantastically with lessons on animal habitats. I particularly loved the added information in the back of the book.

For Libraries: This sounds like a good fit for our animal themed summer for those doing the CSLP theme. Though I wish the release date was a bit sooner...

[Erin Buhr · Rating 5 out of 5]

EXCEPT ANTARCTICA! is a laugh out loud funny book. The narrator is stating facts about animals, but the animals on the page have other ideas. What ensues is ridiculous and hilarious. This is cheeky, informative, and fantastic fun to read aloud. At the end the backmatter also includes information about the animals in the book, Antarctica, climate change and ways that the readers can help save our planet. Delightful and still informative - this is a winner.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

"This is a turtle.

---Um. Hello there.

Turtles are found on every continent...
except Antarctica!

---Hmph! We'll see about that!

They are cold-blooded and cannot survive in a cold, harsh...
Hey, where are you going?

---Antarctica."

I laughed my head off at this silly spoof of a nonfiction book about animals, where the animals themselves reject the wisdom of the narrator and head off to Antarctica.

So much fun!

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turtle and his friends want to go to Antarctica!! Will they find friends and like the area? This book also comes along with wonderful facts about all of the animals that you read about! The illustrations make you feel like you are right with turtle and his friends going to Antarctica. This would be a great classroom library book or a book for a bed time story for a child.

[Ashley Dang · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and interesting story about a turtle and his group of friends trying to go to Antarctica! Filled with adorable drawings, fun facts, and an equally fun group of animal characters, this is a great read for all kids!

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Kids for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todd Sturgell has created a fun, animal-filled mostly non-fiction book for preschool-1st grade readers that focuses on animals that live on every continent. Except for Antarctica! After the fun, Sturgell includes fact boxes for each of the animals. Perfect, “must-have” book for libraries serving young children. Thanks for the print ARC, Sourcebooks!

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

You will love the story in this book! Once turtle finds out that none of his kind are in Antarctica he grabs his gear and heads there. Along the way he finds some other animals who agree to take care n the challenge too. A nice surprise ending and extra factual information about Antarctica make this a great read/purchase. Lots of great SEL points to discuss also.

[Emilee (emileereadsbooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Explore for a free digital copy for my review.

A very clever book that provides you with facts about animals that are not found in Antarctica and those that are only found there. I was chuckling the whole way through.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun book to learn about where different animals come from and why they are suited to different habitiats. The illustrations are comical and I think young children would find this book a lot of fun.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

EARC provided by Edelweiss Plus
Readers will learn lots about turtles and other animals during the animals' humorous journey to Antarctica (and from the back matter). Teachers and librarians- this is an excellent choice for a read aloud!

[Mary Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious way to frame information about species that do and don't live in Antarctica! So. Much. Fun.

Edited in 2024 to add: Holds up over time. Will pair well with I AM NOT A FISH!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun kids story and left a smile on my face. The characters challenging the narrator is a unique touch.

[Miriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was cute and made me chuckle a lot it also had the added benefit of having a bunch of fun facts at the end of it!

[Franki Sibberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great combination of humor and facts and a simple plot. Lots of great features at the end of the book with additional information.