Editorial Review: A Rhyming Book of Creatures and Their Fascinating Features by Olga De Sousa
A magical, rhyming walk on the wild side featuring a bevy of exotic creatures from far and wide
A Rhyming Book of Creatures and their Fascinating Features by Olga De Sousa offers everything the title promises. Children between the ages of five and eleven will be thrilled by this selection of critters that range from the aardvark and bandicoot all the way to the yak and zonkey. Each animal has a couple of beautiful photos of them in their natural habitat, along with some smaller illustrations. However, the real highlight is the poems that highlight the authentic characteristics and behaviors of the animals in a memorable way. For example, it teaches children that Maximilian Manatee is a large herbivore who savors sea plants near the shore, while Sylvan Silverback is not just muscular and tall but actually ranked as the strongest ape of all.
In total, the book features 26 interesting and unique animals, but the fun doesn’t stop there. At the back of the book, there are also a few pages dedicated to fun activities children can complete to learn more about the animals or test their own knowledge. From joining the dots to draw an aardvark to filling in the missing letters to complete the names of other animals, these activities are simple but very engaging. It even challenges children to showcase their own creativity with activities like making up their own poems about dragonflies and drawing or writing about their favorite African animal. These activities should keep children occupied for quite a while as there are plenty of them, and none of them feels like a mere afterthought to fill up pages. The author even added a complete list of photographer and illustrator credits from Getty Images for everything featured in the book. This makes it easy to go online and see more of their work, which is a nice touch.
Overall, A Rhyming Book of Creatures and Their Fascinating Features is a great book for children who love learning more about animals. The clever use of poems makes the reading experience more engaging and memorable, while the beautiful photos are a great showcase of the unique animals. Finally, the activity pages are a nice bonus that will keep children entertained for a long time after reading about all the animals while still teaching them something and fostering their creativity.
