The Encyclopedia of Animals

Let me qualify this a bit by saying that many of the words were indeed challenging for him, and he needed more help than usual in sounding some of the words out, but he loved the book so much he didn't mind working harder.My son is a good reader, but he doesn't typically enjoy reading - he does it because he has to at school or he wants to see what his friends are laughing at - you get the idea. But with this book he reads on his own time almost every night - let me emphasize the on his own time part. While that may not be revolutionary to everyone, if my nine-year-old is choosing to read over watching Dude Perfect or Minecraft videos, or whatever other digital crack he can get his grubby little hands on, it gets my attention. All the things he usually complains about with books, that they're too big or heavy or have too many hard words - not a peep with this one. We can barely get him to stop reading to go to bed some nights. It's a book that's good enough that it makes your kids want to learn the hard words.My only complaint would be that for kids (and grown-ups maybe... other grown-ups, not me of course) the indexes - yes there are two - can be hard to use if you don't know the exact name of an animal or its scientific nomenclature. It happens just enough when you first start using them that you'll begin to question if the people who wrote an encyclopedia of animals, a work which by definition should be a fairly exhaustive catalog of animals, kind of mailed it in and managed to leave out several of the ones you know quite well.Fear not - swallow your pride and realize that unless you are a zoologist or something (in which case, yes, go cry yourself to sleep on Linnaeus' grave), the average person simply isn't going to look under "Laughing" or "Spotted" to find a hyena, and there is no generic hyena entry. But, in other cases the indices are quite adequate and I can simply look up chipmunk or baboon with having to know they will be under “Siberian” or “Hamadryas”, and it’s that inconsistency that throws you off.If you’re the type who likes the thrill of a challenge, I recommend trying to look up the jackal via index. I’ll take pity on you and reveal two things: it’s not a typo, there is no “J” section in the General Index, and if you’re finally pulling your hair out, look up Canis aureus or mesomelas. If you’re the type who hangs out in sub-Saharan Africa a great deal, I concede you may not find this difficult. If you’re the type who enjoys the guilty pleasure of cheating when no one is looking – you know who you are – just look in the section with all the other canines and you’ll come across them.So maybe make the common index a bit more common, but beyond that the info, pics, and layout are so excellent that occasionally having to wander through the pages to find a particular species is often a more rewarding journey anyway and I forget the minor annoyance, and I have no reservations about whole-heartedly recommending this book to anyone.

I got this book for my grandson who loves animals. It has so much information and so many pictures in it. He'll be able to do reports on any kind of animal and have all the information he needs. We sat for a long time just looking at the pictures and reading what the animals ate and where they were usually located. Highly recommended!

Bought this for a preschooler and he loves it.Pros: There are a lot of animals in here and there’s a lot of detail. I like that there are a lot of simple facts that are easy (and exciting) for the kid to read (or have you read to them as the case may be). I particularly like that every animal has a picture reference to the size of a person or the size of your hand so your child can easily understand the scale. It’s the best animal encyclopedia I’ve found.Cons: It’s heavy so climbing into bed with the thing at bed time and trying to hold it open for a kid laying down is a little difficult. A lot of the text is quite small so trying to read with a tiny 40watt bed lamp is tought. But these are minor gripes and understandable considering the volume of information. The one thing I consider more significant is that there really isn’t a solid summery of each animal. There’s a very brief introduction, but I wish there was a solid two short paragraphs that provide an overview. That would make it a little easier to read to a child instead of hopping all over the page (and them trying to follow). This is less of an issue for a child who can read, but for a preschooler through a first grader, this is a little annoying.

Great book with tons of pictures and details. Excellent for my 9 year old. He loves looking at the high quality pictures and the facts help improve his reading. Books seem to be a departure from what most kids are used to in this era of tablets and cell phones. It's great to see him flipping pages and reading a book!! Great value for the money too.

A very impressive book, large and heavy with a striking cover. The photos are stunning, high quality thick glossy pages and it's very easy to navigate. This was a gift for a friend who was graduating veterinary school and she absolutely loved it. I think this would be a wonderful gift for adults or children.

Amazing book! Bought it for a Christmas gift. I love it even for an adult. Each picture has a page with a write up about the animal. Has a great variety of animals. Loved the book. Perfect for any animal lover or child who would want to look at the pictures and as they get older then they can read the articles. Awesome book!!

This a great encyclopedia. But it's a big, heavy book that need to be treated with car. The poor packaging caused thespine to be loose. Better care please. I worked in the libraian lines of duty, and this made me cringe. Thanks

This book looks great! I can hardly wait to see our 3-year-old grandson pour over these pages...he loves animals and wants me to look in books to find out facts about different animals. I think that his six older siblings will enjoy this book, too.