Look at Me! Wild Animal Show-Offs by Jim Arnosky (Children's Week #6)

I've read several of Jim Arnosky's and they never fail to take my breath away. In Look at Me! Wild Animal Show-Offs, Arnosky takes on the concept of displaying: spreading skin, making noise, inflating body parts, growing large antlers, showing plumage, using color. All are described and shown in Arnosky's typical, vivid paintings with the occasional series of sketches.

There are regular spreads and fold-outs that are so magnificent it's best to just show one.

I had a close-up of the left-hand part of that image but Blogger is having a fit and refusing to let me load it. You should be able to click on the image to enlarge.

Highly recommended - Informative and jawdroppingly gorgeous. I love Jim Arnosky's nature books but I think Look at Me! may have just become my all-time favorite, although they all end up on my favorites list. I am crazy about Jim Arnosky's eye-popping illustrations and highly recommend any or all of his nature books for home or library.

More by Jim Arnosky:

Frozen Wild by Jim Arnosky
Tooth and Claw by Jim Arnosky
Man Gave Names to All the Animals by Bob Dylan, illustrated by Jim Arnosky


©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Frozen Wild by Jim Arnosky

Frozen Wild: How Animals Survive in the Coldest Places on Earth
by Jim Arnosky
Copyright 2015
Sterling Children's Books - Picture book
40 pp.

I love all of Jim Arnosky's books because of the sheer beauty of his artwork but Frozen Wild is my new favorite by the artist, author, and naturalist. Subtitled "How Animals Survive in the Coldest Places on Earth," Frozen Wild describes a number of animals in different regions from pole to pole.

Arnosky begins the book by talking about how he started to paint the animals around his home during a snowy winter. He describes what animals eat and how they find food in the winter, whether on land or water, how they adapt to winter with coats or feathers that change in color and thickness and how birds can puff up to hold in warmth. He speaks of the challenges of walking through snow, why it's easier for some animals than others. He also talks about the warm homes some of them build and how smaller animals create tunnels rather than walking on top of the snow.

Although technically a "picture book" because there are large, beautiful paintings, there is some interesting information that could be used as a starting point for older children looking to learn about animals and the author advises readers to do their own observation of animals in a final note. Arnosky has been studying animals for decades; I always learn something from his books.

Highly recommended - Frozen Wild is a gift-worthy book, both informative and beautiful. There are several large fold-out spreads, so I would not give it to a youngster who has the tendency to tear pages unless there's an adult willing to watch over them. Otherwise, it's great for any animal lover and definitely would make an excellent Christmas gift.


©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Tooth & Claw: The Wild World of Big Predators by Jim Arnosky

Tooth & Claw by Jim Arnosky
Copyright 2014 
Sterling Children's Books 
Source: Sterling

The photograph flattens out the color of the words "Tooth & Claw" but on the cover jacket, the lettering is actually raised gold.  Beneath the jacket is the same image but without the raised lettering, but it's still lovely. When I had little ones, I tended to just toss aside jackets whose covers were the same to use for art projects or to keep them looking nice if the kids didn't feel like chopping them up.

Brief synopsis:

A book about large predators, sixth in a series. Bold illustrations in acrylic and pencil show various big cats, bears and wolves, their paw prints and (where applicable) the type of spot patterns in their fur.  Fold-over pages open up to 3-page spreads throughout the book.

My thoughts:

I'm a little leery of books that have fold-out pages because they do tend to get torn up pretty easily but I'm familiar with Jim Arnosky's artwork and . . . well, just look at this spread -- you should be able to enlarge it:

Doesn't that just take your breath away? His illustrations are absolutely stunning. Gorgeous colors, enough to make you feel a little like cringing when you see those teeth up close and personal. And, as the text is obviously geared to older children rather than very little ones, I think the fold-out pages are a lesser concern than those made for younger children.

I haven't seen any of the other books in this particular series but I like Tooth & Claw not only because of the full-color illustrations but also because of the informative pencil sketches.

I neglected to take a picture of one of my favorite spreads, which shows the different spot patterns on leopards, jaguars and cheetahs, which I found particularly interesting.  Because one of my children was a fan of big cats, I'd love it if the book had been dedicated to big cats alone but the mix of predators in Tooth & Claw is a good one.

Highly Recommended - I would love to see some of the other books in this series to get a better idea of the series as a whole, but the others are listed on the back of the book's cover jacket:

• Wild Tracks! A Guide to Nature's Footprints
• Slither and Crawl: Eye to Eye with Reptiles
• Thunder Birds: Nature's Flying Predators
• Creep and Flutter: The Secret World of Insects and Spiders
• Shimmer and Splash: The Sparkling World of Sea Life

Three of these books are award winners, parents choice recommendations and/or listed as favorites by some organization.  Jim Arnosky's illustrations are so beautifully detailed that I'm not surprised. His enthusiasm for nature really does show through the text, as well, as he talks about observing and sketching the animals.

I reviewed one other book illustrated by Jim Arnosky, some time ago: Man Gave Names to All the Animals by Bob Dylan.  Isabel was still a kitten when I reviewed Man Gave Names to All the Animals; there's a photo of her near Fiona when they were still getting used to each other, in that post.  So cool to look back and remember those early days. It's hard to believe we've had these two girls for so long.

©2014 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.