I love this book. The DVD was very funny. I didn't know Jack could trip so much. The animals were very interesting and I learned about so many animals that I have never heard of. This is my favorite book about animals and I would check it out from the library if I didn't have one already. Sometimes I just read this book before bed and then I have very cool dreams. I hope to work at a zoo when I grow up. I would recommend this book for ages three to nine.
(Mom's review below:)
The Wackiest Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna was far more fun and entertaining that I had expected. Each large, colorful page identifies the animal as either wild, weird, or wacky near the bottom of the page. In total, there are ten wacky, ten wild, and ten weird animals featured. My favorite was the Blue-footed Booby, the first wacky animal.
General facts are highlighted, such as diet, habitat, and size. Short attention spans will appreciate the callout boxes that highlight interesting animal facts and trivia. More curious and devoted animal fans will enjoy the longer narrative on the side bar that goes more in depth with additional interesting animal facts. The pictures are eye-catching and shows the animal in it’s natural setting.
The final two pages of the book have a 37 word glossary to explain terms found throughout the book, such as scavenger, nocturnal, billabong, brackish, and more. My animal-crazy daughter immediately read the book cover to cover and watched the DVD twice with her best friend. They loved the video, but I can imagine younger children may not understand or enjoy the parts of the DVD where animals are not involved.
The included DVD runs 19 minutes in length, and more than half of the time does not involve animals but rather just Jack Hanna and crew bloopers, such as Jack falling down (all the time), a sound man sleeping on the job, Jack mistakenly purchasing women’s shoes for himself in Africa and getting laughed at, Jack trading the shoes for two necklaces in an open-air market, Jack getting dressed up as a warrior, and Jack showing up late for a safari appointment. The animal scenes are cute, especially when he keeps getting his knees pecked. The footage also contains older footage of him with his daughter
The hardcover was larger that I had imagined, measuring 10.75” x 10.75”. Although the hardcover is very sturdy, the inside binding left a little to be desired, and with only two reads, I found that on page 20/21that the back binding was already exposed, but considering this is both glued and threaded, I expect the pages will not fall out.
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