Mammalia: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Mammals

Mammalia: An Illustrated Guide to the World of Mammals by Lindy Mattice (Bushel and Peck Books) HB RRP $50 ISBN9781638191285

Reviewed by Dianne Bates

This is a superb, large book, beautifully illustrated and designed, that features more than 125 mammals from around the world. No illustrators are named, but the back cover blurb reads, ‘Enchanting vintage artwork from some of the world’s most accomplished zoological artists make this visual tome as stunning as it is informative and a must-have treasure for animal lovers.’ Agreed!

There’s a double-page spread of contents with twenty-seven animal species, and each species listing mammals with their common and Latin names. For example, under ‘Monkeys and Apes’ are the Eastern Gorilla, Chimpanzee, Bornean Orangutan, Golden Snub-Nosed Monkey, Rhesus Macaque, and Yellow Baboon. If you then turn to the eight Monkeys and Apes pages, you are introduced to ‘the primate order’, made up of roughly 521 species. There are some interesting facts such as ‘primates have larger brains than most animals, and ‘members of the Primate order have prehensible five-digit hands, feet with flat nails’, and so on.

There’s a page of primates which includes gibbons, marmosets, lemurs, tamarins, and more creatures, again, with their Latin names. Each of the monkeys and apes have a dedicated full-page that includes their conservation status (for example, the chimpanzee is endangered), their classification (into kingdom, class, order, and so on). There are also facts on such things as community group size, the first time a female gives birth, and when infants learn to walk. Regarding chimpanzees, there is an outbreak box which details how intelligent these mammals are and how they use tools from a young age.

The publisher states in the book that it has a special mission - - through its ‘Book-for-Book-Promise’ it donates one book to kids in need for every book it sells. So if you buy this book that promises visual delights and hours and hours of interesting reading, you are also benefiting others less fortunate than yourself.

 

 

 

The Sun and the Planets

The Sun and the Planets by Patricia Geis (Bushel and Peck Books) HB RRP $57.50 ISBN 9781638192984

On the front cover is written ‘A 3D Solar System with Pop-Ups’ and ‘Investigate like a real scientist with interactive models and mechanisms.’ Opening the book, there’s an invitation to the young readers to ‘suit up and climb aboard the spaceship!’ There’s a countdown, and a rocket shoots into space. (‘Until you cross the Karman line – 62 miles --, you won’t be able to say your in outer space.’) This double page, as with all pages that follow, is filled with information presented within the book’s design. In the first double page, for example, there is an outer yellow column which shows the stages of the Earth’s atmosphere, from troposphere going up into stratosphere, then mesosphere, and finally thermosphere. It also indicates how many minutes it takes to reach each level (for example one enters outer space in approximately 50 minutes from Earth.)

As well as the many texts, Geis is responsible for all illustrations and paper engineering. The latter includes models such as Earth and the planets. There are many pieces of cardboard to open and explore. Some reveal information, some show images to scale. There is much of interest – such as the fact that ‘In 1969 the Apollo II astronauts were the first ever to set foot on the Moon. It took them 4 days and 6 hours to get there.’ There is so much to explore and read about! Child readers can learn about the ISS Space Station, the sun, Earth, day, and night, east and west, eclipses, the moon, and the planets. The final message in the book reads, ‘Our solar system is a tiny part of the huge Milky Way. And the Milky Way is just one of two trillion galaxies that make up the universe.’ (The Milky Way is 100,000 light years across).

There are not many pages in this sturdy book, but each is crammed with illustrations, paper manipulation, and information. The palette is mostly dark colours, to represent space, and there is a wealth of facts. The book would ideally be enjoyed by any reader aged 7+ years who is keen to learn about space.