Actual Size

As its title suggests, this delightful large format book illustrates animals, and parts of animals, both large and small, at actual size. So, on the first spread, the reader meets a life-sized atlas moth (the world’s largest moth) with a dwarf goby (the world’s smallest fish) for comparison. On the next pages, we come face to face with a giant squid’s eye, a brown bear’s snout and a giant anteater’s tongue (complete with life-sized termites), among many other delights. With charming, collage-style illustrations, this book is packed with wow! factor and should appeal to younger and older readers alike. There is plenty of scope for interaction – how many goliath beetles would fit on your hand? – and some useful end matter with more information about each of the animals featured. My only criticism is that the cover does not do the insides of the book justice and could have been a little brighter, but this is a very small gripe indeed. Highly recommended.