Curious Critters

Curious Critters is a beautiful book, by photographer David FitzSimmons, about a variety of unusual creatures.

What you see here on the cover is indicative of the interior photography.  Each page contains a large color photograph like this, on a white background, of a different animal.  A few examples: Gray Treefrog (pictured here), Bush Katydid, Blue Jay, Southern Flying Squirrel, Eastern Spiny Softshell Turtle, Monarch caterpillar.

Each photo is accompanied by text describing the pictured critter in first person.  For instance, the description of the Gray Treefrog begins, “I know, you’re thinking, gray?  You look green.  Actually, I change colors.  Sometimes I’m almost black, other times bright green, and often somewhere in between.  Do you know why I change colors?…”  These are really fun and interesting snapshots of the uniqueness God built into each animal.

At the end of the book are a couple extra features.  First is a two-page spread that includes miniature versions of each animal photo, accompanied by a short, more “scientific” write-up about each one.  This is followed by another two-page spread which features silhouettes of each of the creatures, in proportion to one another.  The silhouettes are numbered, and used to answer several interactive activity-type questions also included on the page.  (Answers are on the following page.)  Additional activities (and sample pages for online viewing) are available at curious-critters.com.

Older children will appreciate – and learn from – the text and the activities at the end.  Children too young for the text will still appreciate the gorgeous photographs.  Now I just need the book in board-book format so I can share it with my baby without worrying whether she’ll tear it!

$19.95

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the author to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions are entirely my own.