Kaleidoscope of Creatures

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read and review.

Having an electronic copy of this book just does not do it justice. I can't wait to see the physical copy - so many illustrations, colour, and facts - it is definitely a book to sit and spend time with. It is a true kaleidoscope of colours, each colour exemplified by various insects, animals, and creatures from the world over. This is a perfect book for kids who love organization, colours, and living things. It is also good for adults who may not even be aware of some of these animals - such as the red-lipped batfish - excuse me while I now go down a virtual rabbit hole of googling some of these creatures!

As the title promises, the book serves up a veritable kaleidoscope of creatures within its pages. All the animals have been grouped by their colours and their skin characteristics. This makes for a varied reading every page unlike typical animal books that group animals the traditional way such as by species or habitat. The coloured page background makes the animal hues even more vivid. The trivia accompanying the pics is also quite interesting. This book will be a very interesting addition to the libraries of the children who love animals and want to know more about them in a very unique way.

This is a cool encyclopedic guide to animals grouped by color and patterns. There's a bunch of information, so it's a good book to grow with and very engaging to learn animals and colors.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Wide Eyed Editions for the advance copy.

A beautiful reference for children about the kaleidoscope of colors found in nature, particularly in animals. The focus of this book is on the appearance of animals, from the rainbow of colors they can come in to the benefits of having these appearances. Though the illustrations were good, I didn't love the vintage style as it made the colors seems a little less vibrant than they may be in real life. Overall, a fascinating zoological reference for children!

Thank you Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

What a fab way to learn about creatures through their colors! The art is stunning and the factoids are fascinating. Zebras’ stripes repel flies. Iguanas turn orange for love. Psychedelic mandarin fish stink and slime (oh my!) While geared to young children, this great guide will thrill adults too. I loved it!

5 of 5 Stars

Thanks to the author, Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

Pub Date 02 Feb 2021
#KaleidoscopeofCreatures #NetGalley

I love this book! Each double page spread has animals sorted by their colours. Once the rainbow colours are done, the book moves on to look at different patterns and then other ways that animals can change their appearance. The book is stunning to look at and includes snippets of information about each creature included. This would be an excellent addition to any school or classroom library and I can't wait to get my hands on a real copy.

This is a beautifully illustrated nonfiction text perfect for many age levels and grades. My first grade classroom does a unit on animal and plant defenses (NGSS standard for first) and this book would be a perfect resource for my students during the unit to add to their understanding. The text and pictures and engaging and informative. I especially loved the page devoted to how to be a good steward of the environment to help the animals in the book, including using natural gardening products to protect bee populations and employing leave no trace principles when interacting with wildlife. I will be purchasing a hard copy of this book for my classroom. Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A colourful and beautifully illustrated introduction to creatures of the world. This book, with its eye catching front cover, primarily organises creatures by their colour but also includes sections on those with false eyes, those that have clever disguises, males vs females, creatures that light up, those found in wild cities and more. I sat and read this with my 6-year-old who loves animals and is intrigued by insects. It sparked a lovely conversation and she enjoyed me reading some of the facts included in the book. Once we finished reading, she immediately went off to draw a picture of a deer she had seen in the book. A lovely presented book that really captured my daughter's imagination.

A beautifully illustrated guide to animals, grouped by color. Visually striking and not too much text on the page, while still being informative.

This book accomplishes two extremely important things: It shows the wonder and splendor of animals and, at the same time, it explains how animal color and patterns help animals survive and thrive. Because it engages the reader both aesthetically and informatively, it helps readers appreciate animals and learn more about them. This approach is extremely important. Aesthetically, the writing style, the colorful and informative illustrations, and the varied formats make the book a page turner. Informationally, there is enough information to merit more than one rereading. Who can resist this invitation from the author?: “This book will take you on a rainbow safari, where you will meet the most wonderful creatures from the skies, woods, jungles, and seas.” Bravo!

A fascinating and informative look at hundreds of colorfully illustrated creatures. Me, my 4 year-old, and 10 year-old all enjoyed this wonderful look at life on earth!

This book is brilliant. It shows you various animals grouped but colour and pattern. I shall definitely be ordering physical copies for the classroom. This is perfect for children.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This book is stunning inside and outside!
Kaleidoscope of Creatures is an encyclopedia type book for children with factoids of information throughout about different insects, animals, reptiles, birds, fish and more.
Each two page spread has information on each animal - colour changes and why, poisonous, slime habits, offspring etc .
This book is sure to capture any child's interest with its bright vibrant illustrations and layouts!
Certainly a book to keep in a bookshelf to dig out again and again.

Beautifully illustrated and written. While this book is purported to be for young children, I feel that it is for all ages! I certainly loved it and learned from it as will any of my grandchildren from 2 (not just yet) to 7 and all the way up to 28! The information is encyclopedic and the organizational aspect is perfect. I plan to get one for the local library and nudge the out-of-town parents to get their own!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Quarto Publishing Group – Wide Eyed Editions via NetGalley. THANK YOU!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC to read and review.

It's true that our world is a wonderful colorful place thanks to all these creatures but without them it will become a dull sad dark world so that's why it so much important to protect them.
I loved this colorful book and I wish that I had it when I was a kid. I have some books about animals and now most of them are for grown ups but I still like to discover new ones even if they are for children.
The images are fantastic and captivating, a great way to catch the attention of the reader, in addition to all the facts and information included making it a great small encyclopedia to learn from about these beautiful creatures. Loving animals is not just for kids but we should all be interested in them because of their big importance for our planet.

Kaleidoscope of Creatures is a new science based children's book on the biology behind colors and patterns of animals in nature. Due out 16th Feb 2021 from Quarto on their Wide Eyed Editions imprint, it's 64 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Although aimed at young readers, there is a lot of information here which will probably be new to most of the audience, whatever their age. The text is accessible, accurate, and precise and the information is explained well and logically. The book divides the animal kingdom by following the Linnaean classification system into vertebrates and invertebrates and then further by phyla, family, etc. The *types* of coloration and the reasons behind them are covered in two-page spreads with explanatory text and examples: mimicry, camouflage, warning, juvenile to adult coloration, sexual dimorphism (different colors for male and female of the same species), the biomechanics behind color changing cells, and more. Each particular color gets its own section with drawn examples.

The entire book is beautifully illustrated with bright colors and clear pictures. Even the e-book version has high resolution images and good contrast easy-to-read text. The drawings are very simple, but clear enough to recognize and enjoy. It would also provide a good resource for budding scientists to practice drawing for their field journals by copying the drawings in this volume.

Five stars. This would be a superlative selection for school or public library acquisition, youth nature/garden groups, scouts, library activity groups (when we're allowed to gather again), gifting, or for the home or homeschooling library.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Kaleidoscope of Creatures: The Colors of Nature Explained by Cath Ard is a children's nonfiction book currently scheduled for release on February 16 2021. Why are animals so amazingly colorful? Find out in this kaleidoscopic look at the technicolor world of animals. Meet animals of every color of the rainbow and find out why they are the colors and patterns they are. Discover the reason why some animals are stripy and others are spotty. Why do some creatures deliberately pop out while others strive to blend in? Why are some bright to warn off others while some only pretend to look toxic? Why are some male animals so much more flamboyant than their female counterparts? Why do some babies look so different from the grown-ups in their families? The animal kingdom is explored like never before in this richly detailed natural history book, bursting with life and color.

Kaleidoscope of Creatures is a well organized and interesting look at the colors of nature. I liked that it was organized by color, and then additional pages for reasons behind some of the unique color schemes- like warning and camouflage. I found the family tree other informational pages at the beginning of the book to be interesting to read and explore. I thought the illustrations for each page were bold and kept the reader engaged and interested. The information was well chosen and explained. While I wish there was a section of suggested reading or something in that vein at the end of the book, I was pleased to see a nice glossary and index.

Kaleidoscope of Creatures is a colorful and interesting resource. I think it would be a good addition to classrooms and libraries.

I found the whole concept of classifying animals by colours and patterns extremely interesting. As adults we almost always stick to families or at most habitats, but children are happy to explore the world in a variety of ways and this one makes a lot of sense. Not only do children learn a lot of fascinating facts, but they also begin to see what function these beautiful colours and patterns serve.
The book is a great resource for educators and wouldmakealovely addition to any school or home library.

--Beautiful, Thoughtful, Imaginative--
I received an advance review copy from the publisher through NetGalley and here are my thoughts.

This book explores creatures (running the gamut from tiny to gargantuan) by the shared characteristics of either colour or patterns (stripes, for example). Each page spread focuses on one colour, and is a densely packed "kaleidoscopic" images of the different creatures that are that colour, along with brief, interesting facts.

Because it is so densely packed with imagery and words (all beautifully arranged), it is not a "fast" read. The amount of content on each page forces you to slow down and focus on each image and the text.

In other words, It is not a "story" book that can read in a few minutes before bedtime. Instead, it is a resource to inspire children and adults to look more closely at the patterns in nature.

A delightful look at the colourful world of animals. Full of fascinating facts and charming art. Perfect for any youngling interested in nature.