Book Review #11: THE WACKIEST WILDEST WEIRDEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD by Jack Hanna

THE WACKIEST WILDEST WEIRDEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD
by Jack Hanna

Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9781400311408
Sales Rank: 25,961
Age Range: 6 to 10
33pp
Edition Description: Book and DVD

Description (from Barnes & Noble):

A wacky, wild, and weird look at animals through the eyes of Jungle Jack Hanna!
Have you ever seen a naked mole rat? Do you know what a binturong is? Do you know what kind of bird has a deadly kick? Explore the world's wackiest, wildest, and weirdest animals with expert and host Jungle Jack Hanna. The book features thirty animals that are wacky, weird, or wild. Kids will learn amazing animal facts and stories of Jungle Jack's personal adventures with some of these unique creatures. The book includes a bonus DVD with hilarious bloopers from his Emmy award-winning show, Jack Hanna's Into the Wild, and other shows from his career.

My Rating: 4.5/5

My Thoughts:

This has got to be one of the best animal books for kids that I’ve ever seen. Geared toward early and middle readers, WACKIEST WILDEST WEIRDEST is chock full of interesting information and colorful, up-close photographs of some strange and/or ferocious creatures. Thirty animals are spotlighted starting with the blue-footed booby and ending with the naked mole rat. Each featured animal is presented with several different photos, general information about the animal’s description, habitat, and diet, as well as specific details regarding why they are included among the world’s wackiest, wildest, or weirdest animals. Included are land animals, sea creatures, birds, reptiles and even insects.

Both of the kids at my house thoroughly enjoy looking at this book and have already spent a good deal of time ooohing, aaahing, and ew-yukking over its pages. And speaking of pages, the book is printed on a nice heavy stock, almost a light cardboard, which will resist tearing during the multiple reads it's sure to endure. There’s also a nice glossary at the back defining such terms as “tragelaphid” (a spiral-horned antelope) and “macropod” ( a type of marsupial, literally meaning “big feet”).

My only criticism, and what keeps me from giving this a full 5-star rating, is that the DVD which is included was a BIG disappointment. It has bloopers from Jack Hanna’s Into the Wild and, unfortunately, it was pretty boring. The situations weren’t very funny, especially to young kids. I would have expected to see a lot of animal action in a DVD accompanying this kind of book, but this one was peopled with, well, people! My 5-year-old niece exclaimed “I want to see animals! Where are the animals?” That sums up my thoughts on the DVD.

The book itself is great, though. I have to admit to eagerly sneaking off with it one night so that I could look through it in peace! I would not let the disappointing DVD prevent me from purchasing this book. I only mention it because it was included with the book and promoted on the cover. If there had been no DVD at all, I would have rated this book 5 stars.

So, bottom line – I highly recommend THE WACKIEST WILDEST WEIRDEST ANIMALS IN THE WORLD. You can use the DVD as a coaster.

Click here to visit the author's website. There's lots more pictures, information, activites, and links.

Thank you to the publisher, Thomas Nelson, for providing me with my review copy.