A PANDEMONIUM OF PARROTS AND OTHER ANIMALS

Several global animals and birds organized by their collective names are briefly described along with habitats and behaviors in four-line rhymed couplets.

Digital drawings emulate a crayon/marker style and reveal a particular species arrayed in different poses across colorful double-page spreads. “A SLOTH of BEARS”: “Wrapped up warm in fuzzy suits, / they fill themselves with nuts and fruits, / then snooze the winter days away / until it’s spring, when they can play.” Brown bears, black bears, polar bears, a panda, and others are shown in trees and rivers and near ice-capped mountains, growling, waving, eating fish, and sleeping. As an added activity, several search-and-find questions ask children to carefully explore the illustrations for answers. “Who’s scratching his head?” The collective names are intriguing—who can’t love “a conspiracy of lemurs” and “a lounge of lizards”? Readers may notice that lesser-known variations are used, such as “a company of angelfish” rather than “school” and “a bouquet of hummingbirds” rather than “charm.” Two further pages ask readers to take a second look at each preceding spread, offering an additional question and image to find for each animal presented. A “Who’s Who” addendum offers an extra paragraph of information for each.

This nicely culled selection of facts provides glimpses of the chosen animals in an enjoyable and interesting approach.