Animal FACTopia!
Follow the Trail of 400 Beastly Facts
This book will make you roar with laughter! Discover facts about escaping penguins, farting zebras, leaping dolphins, snorting elephants, dancing bears and more – all connected in weird and wonderful ways.
Did you know that beavers have orange teeth? Or that some monkeys floss their teeth using bird feathers? Or that one species of bird can walk underwater? Or that alligators stay underwater for longer by swallowing rocks? Or that sea otters use rocks to crack open prey? Welcome to Animal FACTopia, a purrfectly amazing world of facts, all of which are verified by Encyclopaedia Britannica. Every fact in this book is connected to the next in a fascinating web of information, where you will leapfrog from topic to topic in surprising and hilarious ways. Sometimes your path branches and you can slide down a rabbit hole to a totally different, but still connected, part of the book. Discover where your curiosity will take you!
Creators
Julie Beer is an author and editor, who has written numerous children's books on everything from national parks to space to her favourite subject of all – animals! Julie is based in California, USA.
Andy Smith is an award-winning illustrator, and studied illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, London. His work combines illustration and typography to create images that have humour, energy and optimism executed with a handmade, hand-printed, tactile feel. He lives by the sea in Hastings, East Sussex, UK.
Reviews
The clever connections throughout the book are enhanced by the wonderful drawings and stunning photographs. Readers are also given the opportunity to move away from the broken lines to turn to noted page numbers about other interconnected topics. There is a detailed index at the end plus information about the FACTtopians as well as a sources page and picture credits. The FACTopia! Series is a worthy addition to all home, school and public libraries.
ReadPlus
Julie Beer and Andy Smith have devised a book that just won’t be read from beginning to end because it’s not that kind of thing they’re doing. They want to let us know of all the strange and odd and funny and exotic and surprising facts there are about the animal world—and connect all these facts up somehow… Did you know that most male cats are left-handed? Well, left-pawed. Each page opens to a bright new colour with photos and drawings that inform and enliven the funny, addictive facts if you venture far into this book. There is a useful index at the back if you need to check on any animal mentioned in the book. This is kind of (the young person’s equivalent of a) coffee table book every child would like to have.
Reading Time
What I love so much about this fresh, original and completely unique series is not just the amount of research that has been put into accumulating all of the facts – each one has been verified by Britannica – but also the time, thought and creativity that has clearly been given to page layouts. In these unique encyclopaedias, bite-sized chunks of information sit on brightly coloured and engaging pages that pop with vibrant artwork.I’m a sucker for little known facts, bizarre information and random details so this series is a hit with me… These are innovative, visually appealing and crammed with the kind of things that kids love to read about making them perfect for key stage two classrooms.
A Word About Books
You can take turns reading facts and laughing out loud with your family – AH! SHARK! Next time you see a shark, just play some heavy metal music. Believe it or not, sharks like the sound of heavy metal music playing.
Squiz Kids Book Club reviewer
The pictures make it unique and engaging and I would recommend it to kids who like lots of facts and trivia.
Squiz Kids Book Club reviewer
