A Tower of Giraffes – Animal Bunche

Without resorting to the paper engineering which can often make picturebooks innovative and exciting these days, Anna Wright has given us a small masterpiece of design.  As we turn the pages each double spread reveals a group of animals whose bodies are playfully embellished with patterns inspired by those used on fabric and wall paper.  But in each case the patterns home into something convincing about the nature and character of the animals. So the inquisitively nosed pigs are patterned in pink, grey and brown suggesting their skin colour and their liking for mud and – in the case of my personal favourite spread – sheep are shown with knitted coats reminiscent of the classic Fair Isle jumper, their tails trailing loose streams of wool – caught in a hedge perhaps?   Many of the animals look out intensely from the pages and seem to connect with the viewer. This is particularly striking in the gaze of the camels and the stare of the watchful monkeys and adds considerably to the value and presence of the book.

The brief written text imparts interesting information often using lyrical language.  Sheep are mostly calm but ‘run swiftly in a wild and woolly whirlwind’ to get away when danger strikes.  And flamingos are ‘fancy feathered friends’ who make theatrical displays to impress other birds.  In a few words the capacity for being or not being sociable of each group of creatures is explained.  For example, hedgehogs mostly live on their own ‘but sometimes female hedgehogs become friends’.   This is the sort of intriguing fact that young children enjoy discussing. Children are also introduced to some of the less familiar terms for animal groups:  a ‘scurry of squirrels’ and an ‘ostentation of peacocks’ for example.   The under eights will love talking about the animals pictured in this witty, original and beautiful book but it is  likely to have appeal also for older children and  the sharing adult.