Creatures Great and Small with DK Canada

To celebrate the release of their new Pocket Birds of Canada and Super Bug Encyclopedia, DK Canada has put together a Creatures Great and Small Boutique, with books to satisfy your curiosity about many other members of the animal kingdom.

What caught my eye? Well, I've got a wee grandson who just adores books. He'll be making his first trip to a zoo this summer, so My First Zoo: Let's Meet the Animals was a must read for us.

It's a board book, more specifically it's a tabbed board book. See all those pictures across the top and sides? Little fingers can pull on the tab and the book will easily open to the two sided page for more pictures and info. Kids will easily start to 'bookmark' their favourites with the tabbed picture.

The pictures are realistic - it's going to be easy to recognize some of the more exotic animals when he actually does see them in person. The colours are bright and attractive. And the book is sturdy - just right for a toddler.

As you can see, there are many pictures on each page, providing lots to look at and talk about. My wee one has farm animals down pat, so he was quite happy to read the petting zoo pages many times. At the Zoo, Primates, African Safari, Tropical Animals, Cold Zone, Bird House (this was also a favourite) Creepy Crawlies (not Gramma's favourite) Reptile House, Aquarium, Australian Animals and Nocturnal Animals are the other 'chapters'. I must admit, there were a few animals I didn't recognize! (I'd never heard of a genet)

You can also make a quick game out of finding the tabbed picture in the larger grouping. There's some questions on each page as well, such as what animal would you like to pet? Count the fish, etc.

We've been reading mostly stories so far, so this is his first 'non-fiction' book. It might be a good jump off point for more exploring as he gets older as well. (DK has a great online resource called DKfindout.com for children ages 7-11 who are curious about just about anything - it's worth checking out.)

Gramma and little guy vote thumbs up on My First Zoo - and we're looking forward to seeing the animals in person this summer!