LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS- MARTIN BROWN

"Fed up with the same old animals? Had enough of hippos? Bored with bears? Tired of tigers? Do you want animals that are fresh, new and exciting? Try LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS, a book about the wonderful wow wildlife that we never get to see."

So begins LESSER SPOTTED ANIMALS. And it definitely is a book that includes lots of unusual animals. In this book, you will learn about animals like the Cuban Solenodon, the Long-tailed dunnart, the Gaur, Speke's Pecinator, the Ili Pika, and about 25 other animals.

Each two-page spread features a different creature. There's a large, drawn picture of the animal, often with a cartoon bubble. There are two paragraphs of description, written in an engaging and slightly comical voice that could definitely elevate kids' informative writing. There are tiny (1" X 1") boxes that contain additional informative drawings.

And there's also a fact box, which includes size (the silvery gibbons is described as roughly as big as the six month old baby from next door), what the animal eats, a small map of where it lives, its endangered status, and then, my favorite a category called AND, full of those random and interesting facts kids love to learn and share (e.g. gibbons are the most accomplished of swingers-- hurtling around in the treetops, some can reach 35 mph and clear gaps of 49 feet- the accompanying diagrams says that 49 feet is as long as three Range Rovers). End matter includes a glossary.

Fun and definitely unusual!