annieb123
Written on Jan 24, 2021
Kaleidoscope of Creatures is a new science based children's book on the biology behind colors and patterns of animals in nature. Due out 16th Feb 2021 from Quarto on their Wide Eyed Editions imprint, it's 64 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.
Although aimed at young readers, there is a lot of information here which will probably be new to most of the audience, whatever their age. The text is accessible, accurate, and precise and the information is explained well and logically. The book divides the animal kingdom by following the Linnaean classification system into vertebrates and invertebrates and then further by phyla, family, etc. The *types* of coloration and the reasons behind them are covered in two-page spreads with explanatory text and examples: mimicry, camouflage, warning, juvenile to adult coloration, sexual dimorphism (different colors for male and female of the same species), the biomechanics behind color changing cells, and more. Each particular color gets its own section with drawn examples.
The entire book is beautifully illustrated with bright colors and clear pictures. Even the e-book version has high resolution images and good contrast easy-to-read text. The drawings are very simple, but clear enough to recognize and enjoy. It would also provide a good resource for budding scientists to practice drawing for their field journals by copying the drawings in this volume.
Five stars. This would be a superlative selection for school or public library acquisition, youth nature/garden groups, scouts, library activity groups (when we're allowed to gather again), gifting, or for the home or homeschooling library.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.