Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Finding First Animals and More!
Illustrator: Fhiona Galloway
Nonfiction Novelty Board Book
For ages 3 to 5
Tiger Tales, 2016 ISBN: 978-1589252295
Children have a deep fondness for animals, which is why so many of their favorite book characters are furred, finned, or feathered. There is Clifford the dog, the Rainbow Fish, Winnie-the-Pooh, Lars the little polar bear, Carl the dog, Angelina the mouse and many others, all of whom offer children the opportunity to bond with characters that they grow to love.
In this wonderful board novelty book children will visit four places where animals are found: a home, a forest, a farm, and a jungle and rainforest. In three of these locations they will find lots of flaps to lift so that they can seek out animals that are hidden from view. Every time they open a flap an illustration is revealed and the name of the animal is given. In fact, all the animals in the book at labeled so that children can start recognizing and learning to read animal names.
Our exploration begins in a house, which appears to be empty, but when we open the flaps we find out that all kinds of domesticated pets are in residence; including a hamster, a cat, a fish, and there is even a mouse hiding inside the case of the pendulum clock that is hanging on the wall!
The next location we go to is a forest and we see lots of animals in the artwork here, but it turns out that even more animals are hiding in trees, underground, behind bushes, and elsewhere. The same is true on the farm, were animals can be found behind flaps in the barn, in the stable, in bales of hay, and in many other places.
The final location is the jungle and rainforest. Here there are no flaps to open, but the page opens up to reveal an incredible scene that is full of creatures of all kinds.
In addition to these animal-filled scenes, children will also find pages full of flaps that challenge them to learn the sounds animals make, to learn the names of baby animals and their parents, to identify animals by the clues that they are given, and to figure out what kinds of animals live in different ‘houses.’
Children are sure to enjoy exploring this wonderful book with its illustration-rich pages, its flaps to lift, and its puzzle challenges.
