Fats here.

Suzy Kasem, author of Rise Up and Salute the Sun, said:

“Every creature was designed to serve a purpose. Learn from animals for they are there to teach you the way of life. There is a wealth of knowledge that is openly accessible in nature. Our ancestors knew this and embraced the natural cures found in the bosoms of the earth. Their classroom was nature. They studied the lessons to be learned from animals. Much of human behavior can be explained by watching the wild beasts around us. They are constantly teaching us things about ourselves and the way of the universe, but most people are too blind to watch and listen.”

A few months ago, before we launched our current theme, Into the Wild, I came across this book shelved in juvenile non-fiction. Paul Thurlby’s Wildlife is a fun picture book featuring animals that we are most familiar with. It includes short, strange, and true facts about animals such as tigers, elephants, bears, kangaroos, and sharks, to name a few.

Paul Thurlby is a London-based illustrator who has been creating wonderful artwork since 2006. According to the artist info in the book, Paul Thurlby’s work has appeared in advertising, on greeting cards and shirts, and in newspapers in the U.K. Check out his work below!

“Sunlight gives goldfish their orange pigment.”

“Moles can tunnel 300 feet and eat half their body weight in one night.”

“Rats spend a third of their lives washing themselves.”

Wildlife is such a fun non-fiction book for the little ones! I love Paul Thurlby’s digital illustrations and how they fill an entire page! The book emphasizes that although the animals in the book were depicted as being silly, they were based on real animal facts.

And now this.

*Points to the book cover on the right*

THIS. THIS. THIS.

Creaturepedia: Welcome to the Greatest Show on Earth

…and it is! Well, not exactly a show, but this book is awesome! I discovered Adrienne Barman’s Creaturepedia by accident, while I was discharging returned materials almost three months ago. It came as a surprise because I initially thought it was a new graphic novel.

Well, it isn’t. Creaturepedia is a juvenile non-fiction that was first published in Switzerland in 2013 under the title Drôle d’encyclopédie. The copy that I borrowed from the library is the U.S. edition published by Wide Eyed Editions earlier this year.

Creaturepedia is an almanac that features more than 600 fantastic creatures known to man! The animals are divided into cleverly-named groups such as the architects, the champion breath-holders, the brainboxes, the unlucky, the endangered, the vanished, and the voyagers, among others. It’s a massive (and amazing!) collection. Some pages include animal trivia, but all feature the breathtaking artwork of Adrienne Barman. This is a collection to be had, especially for anyone who loves animals!

To check out other books by Wide Eyed Editions, click here.