Non-Fiction Picture Books - New ABCs

art by Sarah S. Brannen

           Visit Alyson Beecher on Wednesdays for Non-Fiction Picture Books at Kidlit Frenzy.  From her post and others, you will discover and want to celebrate terrific nonfiction picture books! 

             Thanks to Candlewick Press, I have a copy of this fascinating and beautiful book from Australia, this year published in the U.S. Amazing animals are found in Australia, many not found anywhere else in the world! 

          It begins appropriately with what else, Australia, with a large double-page spread showing all the animals that will be introduced, starting with B. Australia is of course surrounded by ocean with brief tidbits of facts floating in that ocean, like "There are roughly 50 million kangeroos in Australia. That's twice the number of people."
          As I read the book, I took notes of interesting facts and then realized the notes were simply too many to share in one review. I began with "Half of Australian's mammals are marsupials." And, I noted various pieces of information OR animals that are new to me, quite a few. The second spread introduces the Bilby & the Blue-tongued Skink. That Bilby looks like a rabbit, but manages to live in desert conditions, receives needed moisture from a bush onion which grows in the sand. It does not jump like a kangeroo or hop like a rabbit, but gallops like a pony. See what I mean, I'd love to tell it all!

          Readers will meet thirty-eight wonderful creatures with pertinent facts and through gorgeous illustrations of the animals, showing them in their habitats. There are a couple of vertical, double-page spreads, highlighting the flying fox (really a huge bat) and the sugar glider (a small possum that glides through the air between trees). Small maps of Australia on a back page show the habitat of each animal. This is a special alphabet book, for those studying animals and habitats or Australia's fauna along with flora. 
         If you are wondering if there is a "kookaburra" in the book? Yes, it is there, and the fact that its noisy call sounds like a human laugh supports that old Australian nursery song I learned long ago. "Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree. Merry, merry king of the bush is he. Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, kookaburra, gay your life must be. Ha, ha."  
          You may know Frané Lessac who has created several books for children, but most recently We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga, by Traci Sorell.
  

Terrific book!

One of the most venomous creatures in the world, and also the smallest jellyfish.

I love that small echidna and recently read an account from another writer about the interesting emu.