WINGS

Guess the animal based on its wings.

This board book truly is as simple as it sounds: It’s a book about animals and their wings. The featured animals range from the eye-catching (monarch) “butterfly” to the brightly colored “parrot” (a scarlet macaw). A detailed, close-up photograph of part of an animal’s wings is accompanied by a question asking who they belong to. A full-bleed, double-page spread follows, showing a different picture of the whole animal, which adds a bit of suspense. Younger readers might be expecting the colorful underside of the parrot’s wing based on the close-up, but a turn of the page reveals the bird sitting wings closed at its side. Crow includes rich vocabulary words for young readers, like “wrinkled” and “patterned,” as descriptors. The full-color photographs are beautiful and bold, and the close-ups are laid against a white background, helping details stand out. The other books in this series, Coats, Horns, and Scales, follow the same format. Horns impresses with animals uncommon to board books, such as the alpine ibex, markhor, and highland cow. The simplicity of the text and format suggests a younger reader, but the matching skills suggest a slightly older one. Overall, this one will appeal to both age groups thanks to its beautiful photography and the guessing element.

Stunning photography with high appeal for little animal enthusiasts.