Beastly Puzzles

Rachel

Byron

This book asks children: If you're given a list of features and characteristics can you guess which animal they make? This might seem easy enough. But solving the puzzles in this book is deviously outrageously almost impossibly tricky! Though the thirteen animals included are easily recognizable --- such as polar bear snail ostrich pufferfish --- the clues are unexpected. For example: ?3 billiard balls? ?dinosaur feet? and ?five feather dusters.? And to further complicate matters the clues are presented in scenarios unrelated to the animals --- the ostrich is composed of items in a ?gentlemen's den? and the pufferfish clues are items in a spy submarine. Once readers make a guess (or if they get stumped!) they can open the gatefold to reveal the animal with each clue explained and lots of additional fascinating facts.

Author Rachel Poliquin's concept for this intriguing one-of-a-kind book is a spin on early natural histories which introduced new animals by describing them as a hodgepodge of parts taken from familiar creatures. A beaver for example was described as being composed of a flounder an otter goose feet squirrel paws and a rabbit's front teeth. The back matter includes a note explaining this accompanied by visual references. Artfully and intricately illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler this innovative book offers an engaging mix of art and information that's sure to pique readers' curiosity. It works perfectly to enhance a broad range of life sciences curriculum topics including animal adaptations characteristics evolution ecology habitats ecosystems biodiversity and food webs. The guessing-game format encourages inquiry-based learning --- and plenty of fun!>