My Never Ending List

I’m not sure exactly how I feel about myself after reading this children’s book but I do know that I loved this book and highly recommend it. While reading it, I was overwhelmed with all the information that the authors packed inside its pages. I felt smarter by the time I finished reading it and I know that there is no way I will be able to remember everything that I have read but I also felt a bit dumb because I thought to myself, wow…. here I am a grown adult and I didn’t know half the information that I read. The information was educational, stimulating and compelling. I can’t tell you how many aahh moments I had while reading this book but I can tell you that I did become annoying to my husband as I kept interrupting him with tidbits of information as he tried to read his books. I am excited about this book, really excited to share this book with others because the material and facts that they presented was fascinating and interesting. I learned that:

• Puffins lay their eggs on sheer cliffs. To prevent their eggs from rolling off, their eggs are a cone-like shape.

• “If two queen bees hatch at the same time, they might fight to the death.”

• Orangutans are the only creature who have ever responded to being tickled.

• The male bird of paradise will sometimes make a display to attract a female that can last for hours.

• A platypus has venomous spurs on their hind legs, to defend themselves.

• Red kangaroos (Australia) lick their wrists to cool their blood vessels.

• The Bowerbirds fascinated me with their bowers of twigs. These birds are cousins to the birds of paradise. The male birds build a bower to impress the females (this is not a nest). They decorate this with anything that they can find in the wild (feathers, buttons, stones, anything colorful). The females then come by each of the bowers, as the males make noise and fluff themselves up to attract a female. The female picks whichever one she wants.

There is such great and interesting information on each species that the book chose to include in this book. Don’t get me started on hummingbirds and ants because I thought I had known a lot about these creatures but after reading this book, I still have plenty to learn!

This oversized book would make a perfect addition to anyone who enjoys learning about critters. I enjoyed the heavy cardstock paper that the book is written on and I loved how the book is laid out. Sectioned off into continents, then broken-down into individual species in that continent, this book is a gem! I loved all the small facts/information that were sprinkled out throughout the illustration as well as the main facts that accompanied each page. The illustrations were colorful and wonderfully done. The only drawback that I could see was that sometimes a few of the smaller texts/facts that were sprinkled throughout the book blended into the background and they were hard to read. Since this was such an excellent book, I’m not docking any stars for this small issue as I was willing and determined to overlook this issue. It’s a book that should not be overlooked! I loved it!