Animal FACTopia!
Julie Beer, illustrated by Andy Smith
Britannica Books

You never quite know where your inquisitiveness might take you in this engaging and informative book. And you’ll assuredly find yourself laughing at some of the zaniest zoological facts you encounter, every one of which is verified by Encyclopaedia Britannica and every fact is linked to the next. Herein you will encounter – one way or another – creatures scaly, feathery, furry, silky smooth, from the microscopic to the massive, some friendly and others downright dangerous.

You will discover something about skin shedding spiny mice of the African kind, whistling walruses, purple-blooded peanut worms, blue-tonged skinks and lots more – weird and wonderful animals assuredly.

Coincidentally I came upon examples of bioluminescence three times in a single day: the first in this book:’ microscopic male crustaceans called ostracods vomit glowing mucus’ to attract partners.

Then the topic was mentioned in a David Attenborough programme I watched in the evening as well as in the novel I am currently enjoying.

Were you aware that certain monkeys floss their teeth with bird feathers? I wasn’t; nor did I know that ghost crabs have teeth in their stomachs to facilitate digestion or that Western painted turtles are able to hold their breath for four months. Amazing!
With a mix of photographs and Andy Smith’s cartoonish illustrations this will surely satisfy curious KS2 readers and entertain a great many adults too I suspect.