Animal Camouflage: Search and Find

Pick up this book and the cover attracts immediately with the distinctive cut paper style illustrations which are a feature throughout.    Seven regions – Africa, Asia, Europe, Polar Regions, North America, South America and Australasia- are explored through the animals that inhabit their landscapes and seascapes, which include jungle, desert and ocean.  Each section begins with vignettes of the animals native to the region together with some succinct information.   Turn the page and there is a double spread scene with the animals camouflaged in a restricted palette depiction of a land or seascape.  Each section has questions suitable for the age group to help structure young readers’ observations. So, for example, in the ’South American Animals’ region we find jaguars, sloths, alpacas and llamas and the question is: ‘Two of these animals are very similar. Can you find them in the scene and count them?’

The book is imaginatively designed and the illustrations are captivating- the restricted palette is likely to sharpen response to shape and pattern.  Perhaps the end pages might have included a map of the continents with the location of land and seascapes indicated ? The written text is inviting so that you get the sense of an author addressing young learners very directly.  Polar animals are ‘superheroes and know exactly how to survive on the ice’.  I am reminded of Margaret Meek’s wise observation that successful writers of non-fiction for children ‘lend out their minds’.  This book presents both geographical and zoological information in an exciting way for the under eights and would be a welcome addition to any primary school library.