Built by Animals - Christiane Dorion - ★★★★.¼

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AUTHOR: Christiane Dorion
ILLUSTRATOR: Yeji Yun
GENRE: Children's Picture Book
PUBLICATION DATE: May 3, 2022
RATING: 4.25 stars.

An excellent illustrated book for the 7-12 years age group who wants to see the extent of the ingenuity present in nature.

The book covers a wide variety of animal and even plants, revealing how each of them has some skills related to architecture, engineering, materials, conservations of resources, and so on. All these skills are much needed by humans and by an educated study of these animal habits and habitats, we can hopefully understand their approach and even incorporate a few in our lifestyle. The range of animals is vast, right from desert animals to underwater creatures to even tiny insects.

The book is 80 pages long, and each of these pages (except for a few) contains details on one specific animal/plant and a few of its important habits that we humans could learn. The content is organised into sections such as construction, materials, shapes, and so on. I liked how the content was presented from the first person perspective of the relevant animal, and in case of plants, the voice was that of an animal closely associated with that plant. This created a beautiful connect and also helped incorporate a touch of humour to the narration.

The accompanying illustrations are fabulous and show not just the animal/plant but also a detailed view of their relevant habits. Every page is completely in colour, and I am sure the physical copy would be outstanding to look at.

At the end of the book, there is a special section called “Award ceremony” where children can match the animals with a special award that they deserve for their innovative qualities. This was fun and nice way of reinforcing the learnings of the book.

Humankind has always considered itself the smartest of the species. This book shows that animals can be way smarter than us and we still have a long way to go in making the maximum use of available natural resources while causing minimal destruction to the environment.

The only complaint I have is that the text is a little cramped up. I think this is because there is a lot of content per page. Though the text is definitely easy to understand for the target age group and is sectioned into logical paragraphs, it still looks a bit cluttered on the digital copy. This might not be an issue in the physical copy.

Recommended not just to every little animal lover but to anyone who wants to see the wonders of nature. Hopefully, we learn a little humility as well by reading about these amazing animals. This would be a wonderful addition to homes, schools and libraries.

My thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions and NetGalley for the DRC of “Built by Animals”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

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