Award-winning author and photographer, David FitzSimmons has a unique approach to animal portraiture, and he loves sharing it with kids. Instead of seeking rare animals in exotic locations, David photographs common animals – many found in your own back yard – against plain, white backgrounds. The resulting images are striking.
This unconventional approach allows animals’ colours, textures, shapes, and *personalities* to shine through. So kids focus on the animals – That’s when the learning begins. David explains, *White backgrounds eliminate distractions and help young readers notice clues about animals’ behaviors, diets, life cycles, and habitats.*
In addition to the extraordinary photography, each of the featured critters (21 in total!) gets a chance to tell its story – in a way that’s not only education, but fun too. In fact, Curious Critters addresses all the National Research Council’s life science standards for Kingergarten – Grade 4.
I received a copy of Curious Critters for review, and honestly I didn’t realize I was in for such a treat. The photographs really are gorgeous and my kids and I both loved reading all the fun *tales* that accompanied each critter. In addition, there are some additional *critter facts* and a two-page spread of life-size silhouettes where you can test your memory – Identify the critters, find one whose shape has changed, test geometry skills in looking for reversed silhouettes, AND figure out what the various colours represent. There is no end to the learning…no end to the fun. We love this book so much – though I must admit that none of these *critters* is found in our backyard. I’m quite happy with that. LOL
You can purchase your own copy of this beautiful book directly from the website – where you can also purchase Postcards and Stickers. There are also e-cards, word searches, and colouring pages! Curious Critters would make an excellent Christmas gift, birthday gift, or even baby shower gift – and of course, as always, a just because gift!
**Disclosure: The product in this review was provided to me free of cost for the purpose of this review.
The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced by monetary compensation**
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