Review: The Wackiest Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna

Since I lead a TV deprived life, I didn't know anything about Jack Hanna when I ordered this book as part of the Thomas Nelson book blogger review program. I requested it because I figured my five year old would like an animal book. The book comes with a DVD of bloopers from Jack Hanna's Into the Wild so I googled him to find out about his show. If you are TV illiterate too, check out his website.

The Wackiest Wildest Weirdest Animals is a beautiful magazine-style book (referring to the layout, the cover is hard and sturdy and the paper thick and glossy) which devotes a page to each animal covered. There is a large picture usually showing all or most of the animal and an inset small close-up of some interesting feature. A side-bar on each page is entitled "What Makes Them Weird" and across the top or bottom of the page is box that lists what the animal eats, where it lives, and how big it gets. There is a fact box giving one to three interesting facts about the animal. Thirty animals are covered and they range from the well-known elephant to the naked mole rat. The book ends with a glossary of words used.

While I ordered this for my five year old, I think it is too advanced for her. She enjoyed the pictures and we talked about the animals, but there were too many words on the page for her, and the vocabulary was too high. However, this book will be a keeper and is one I can easily see her growing into. There is just about enough information for the average elementary school report on an animal.

As I noted above, the book came with a blooper DVD. My daughter did enjoy that. Check out Thomas Nelson's product page.