Animal Adaptations: Unique Body Parts by Radka Piro & Lida Larina

And so, here is my last review of the year, dear readers, the review of a gentle but thoroughly intelligent, beautiful and extremely accessible book that encourages curiosity about the world around us. Hopefully, it’ll be a harbinger of the year to come!

Why yes, I am an eternal optimist in many regards.

But to this delightful board book, which is the perfect way to get young readers interested in zoology, emphasizing the weird and cool of the animal kingdom without overwhelming with too much information. It’s a slender volume, in keeping with the format, brightly illustrated and concisely written. While brief, the vignettes are thoughtfully selected. Honestly, this book taught me stuff even I didn’t know about animals!

Animal Adaptations: Unique Body Parts is divided into five, um, parts. Each section begins with a question and hint about a particular body part/adaptation, with a cunning peekaboo cutout to pique readers’ interest in the answer. With said answer comes four more illustrated facts about animals related to the first one showcased in the section. The illustrations are cute while staying faithful to biology, and the shading and colors just gorgeous, with a slight but not overwhelming tendency towards a pastel palette.

While the material is definitely aimed at a slightly older audience than usually reads board books, this format is a boon to caretakers of messy children of any age, and especially the kind who are unwittingly hard on their much-loved books. Definitely consider adding this to any library that encourages scientific inquiry on the part of its readers.

Animal Adaptations: Unique Body Parts by Radka Piro & Lida Larina was published November 2 2021 by Albatros Media and is available from all good booksellers, including