A compelling and endlessly interesting book exploring how animals, insects and humans experience life through their individualized sensory "bubble." Each of us experiences the world differently through our senses, and that individualized sensory experience is known as an "umwelt." (Pronounced umvelt - the word is originally German/) This sensory experience varies not just between people, but drastically between species.

Written in a way that is understandable to young children, this young readers' adaptation of Ed Yong's novel is accomplishes the feat of accessibly explaining oftentimes complex and nuanced concepts. The illustrations and design of the book are visually appealing and break up the information into digestible sections.

I received an advanced reader copy of this book on Netgalley from Random House Children's. I will note that at first it was difficult to get any of my children to sit down and read it for any extended period of time, due to competing demands with the end of school and summer vacation. However, I knew they'd be interested once they got into it, and taking into consideration my own preference for nonfiction in audiobook format, after the book's publishing date I checked the audiobook out from my local library on Libby and played the book during a car trip as well as running errands around town.

Not only did I absolutely love it,but every single one of my kids ages 5-16 were completely silent and interested whenever the book was on. (This NEVER happens.) There was zero fighting in the car, even on a long car ride. My 11 year old, who wants to be an animal biologist one day, picked up the e-ARC and started reading it herself. I highly recommend trying the audiobook version if the print version doesn't work for your young readers. The narrator does an excellent job, and this book packed in a ton of extremely interesting and insightful information in a surprising small package

We've started re-reading the book (see previous paragraph: Mom will do anything to keep peace during long car rides). My 5-year-old, after listening to a few chapters yesterday, asked me, "Mom, does everyone have their own umwelt?" in the sweetest little voice. She gets it! she's interested, and it's starting wonderful conversations in our family about how we experience things, how we are different and similar, and has created a greater understanding in my children of other humans as well as animals. We've had discussions about how we each experience different senses (such as hearing or sight) differently, and we've all be very interested as we have learned about how animals and insects experience things, sometimes quite differently.

This book is unique, one-of-a-kind, and I feel it's interesting for anyone ages 5 to 105, or anyone who wants to learn more about humans and animals' sensory experience and perceptions, or more about the natural world.

Discover the incredible ways animals experience the world in An Immense World—a young readers’ adaptation of the bestselling book that reveals senses far beyond our own. From turtles navigating by Earth’s magnetic fields to fish that communicate with electricity, this engaging and beautifully illustrated book is packed with jaw-dropping facts and fascinating creatures. Perfect for curious kids and families, it offers a mind-expanding look at how animals see, smell, hear and feel the world in ways we can barely imagine.

An Immense World: How Animals Sense Earth’s Amazing Secrets by Ed Yong is a captivating and eye-opening journey into the fascinating ways animals experience the world. Adapted from Yong’s bestselling book for adults, this edition is perfectly tailored for younger readers, blending mind-blowing science with engaging storytelling and vibrant illustrations that bring each page to life.

From electric fish that “talk” through signals to turtles who navigate using Earth’s magnetic fields, Yong introduces kids to the rich sensory worlds animals inhabit—many of which are entirely invisible to us. The book explains complex scientific ideas in an accessible and often humorous way, making it easy for young minds to grasp while never talking down to its audience. Each chapter explores a different sense—sight, smell, sound, touch and taste—offering fun facts, such as why zebras have stripes (spoiler: it’s not for camouflage) or why leopard pee smells like popcorn.

What makes this book stand out is its ability to spark curiosity. It encourages readers to ask questions not just about animals, but also about how we perceive the world and what we might be missing. The addition of colorful illustrations and fun side notes keeps the pacing lively and information digestible.

An Immense World is a brilliant, brain-expanding read for curious kids, families or classrooms. It’s a celebration of nature’s creativity and reminder there’s so much more to the world than meets the human eye.

Beautiful artwork inside with an easy to follow layout and great information. I really enjoyed reading through it and think that kids will like it too!

Well written and fun reading with loads of information I've never read before. I appreciate the authors ease of explaining very complicated concepts to younger readers without it feeling too simple. The liked the illustrations very much and Ed's Notebook is a nice way to break up the text.

This book was chock full of interesting facts and information about how different species use their senses in various ways to experience the world. I learned so much from reading this. The information was presented in an easy to read format with supporting illustrations and photos. Science-minded young readers, especially those that love animals and the natural world, will find a lot to love with this book.

This book does a really fantastic job of translating the science-heavy text of an Immense World into kid-friendly language. There are lots of exclamation points, italics for emphasis, and bold used to indicate vocabulary words (with definitions provided, as in a middle-school textbook). There are also lots of illustrations. All of this combines to make what seems rather long into a very quick read.

My kiddo (11) actually listened to the audiobook of an Immense World with me (the original version) and then we came back to this one to see how they compared. His assessment: "This version has a LOT fewer words in it." He much preferred the original, and declined to continue reading this one after the first several chapters.

He is correct in his assesment - entire chapters of the original text get boiled down to just a few pages of occasionally over-excited language here. And of course, there are copious exclamation points. But, I think that's actually a good thing. My kiddo has always been a science nerd and at 11 is listening exclusively to science nonfiction meant for adults. For most kids, without his extensive background of science reading, this would be an exciting introduction into the worlds of different animals' senses.

It is a very easy read, with chapters only a few pages long and conversational language. I would recommend it to be read aloud to kids 6-9 who are interested in animals and science and for kids 10-14 to read themselves.

And of course the subject matter is fascinating. Ed Yong does a wonderful job making animal senses and the way they perceive the world seem fascinating and full of wonder.

Highly recommend to children, and also to teens and adults intimidated by the full text of the original.

*Thanks to Bright Matter Books for providing an early copy for review.

We know the world through our senses, but that is a mere slice of reality. Exploring the perceptions of other animals reveals an unimagined and immense world. Twelve chapters explore animal senses, typically opening with the author interacting with an animal and the researcher who studies it, giving readers a powerful sense of how cutting edge much of this knowledge is. Each titled chapter is subdivided into helpfully specific sections. Well-crafted prose, plenty of metaphors, and jokey asides help create context, allowing readers to imagine what is beyond our range of experience. Color blocking, field notes, puzzlers, emboldened quotes, and words to remember help to break up the text. Photographs, line drawings and frequent full-color illustrations add interest, but the heavily digitized artwork seems discordantly bland in a work exploring diverse specificity. Back matter includes author's note, photo credits and index, but no sources or further reading. Review based on an ARC. Thanks to NetGalley and Bright Matter for a review copy in return for an unbiased review

An Immense World is an informative children's book filled with wonderful case studies, analysis, and facts about the animal kingdom. With vivid illustrations, and detailed descriptions of a myriad of animals which many children might have not yet had the opportunity to consider or study, this book is a wonderful introduction to the field of animal sciences. Parents, teachers, and librarians will be equally impressed with the high quality of the book and will enjoy sharing the information and details with young readers.

I love this. This book is bound to do well with all ages of readers. I've found that many adult readers at my library are more likely to read a middle grade or teen non-fiction book than an adult one. This is true of readers who primarily read fiction. They're drawn to the teen versions of Great Influenza and Boys in the Boat, for example.

I preordered for my library. I'm excited to see the hard copy myself and share it with my groups. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Informative and interesting! I liked the illustrations and think I would have liked something like this better than a textbook in elementary school. I stil learned some new facts, even as an adult reader!

Thanks to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

How do animals and other creatures sense the world? How does this compare to humans? This book explores the answers to these questions and more. The layout is well done. The text is engaging and informative. The illustrations are a mix of sketches and real photographs. Together the text and illustrations work well together to present the unique information this book provided. Readers who like animals, books about animal senses, non-fiction, and informational books will want to pick this one up. Recommended for most library collections. 5 stars, Gr 4 to 7.

This is a great young readers edition of An Immense World. The illustrations are complementary and the content is informative and interesting.