Monday, July 10, 2017

Picture Book Review: Animal Ark by Kwame Alexander & Joel Sartore

I received a free physical copy of this book from National Geographic Kids and Media Masters in exchange for an honest review. 


Animal Ark: 
Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry and Pictures
Author: Kwame Alexander
Photographer: Joel Sartore
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Publication Date: February 14, 2017
Length: 48 pages


In haiku form, Kwame Alexander explores the gorgeous photography of Joel Sartore, bringing the bright and bold colors of the animals to life with words. 

This books is gorgeous! The verse is fun and playful and matches each photograph so well. Each bit of text changes size and color and even molds around the animals, giving it a life of it's own.


The photographs are bright and bold and simply fantastic! I can only imagine the patience and skill one must possess to capture these animals. Photographed against a black or white background, these animals really pop and the detail is amazing!


 The formatting of this book makes it extra fun. There are full spreads, single spreads, and extended pages that fold out, giving us a bigger, wider view of the animals included within this book. 


At the center of the book is a double fold out spread with plenty of extra animals as well as beautifully written prose that reminds us that "We are family. Miraculous each." 
That "there are too few remaining
in the rain forest
in the big blue sea
in the whole wide world
because of you and me. 
Our actions matter."
It is a beautiful reminder that our actions and the way we live affect the animals of this world. We should be their protectors. 

My toddler was absolutely fascinated by the animals and listened intently to the words spoken aloud. We often peruse animal-filled books but none as beautiful as Animal Ark. We both keep coming back to this book. 

We've also gone on to discover more of Joel Sartore's photography through his website. He has been working with National Geographic on the PhotoArk project that has photographed thousands of unique species. I definitely recommend checking it out but there are over 23,000 pictures so be prepared to spend a good chunk of time on them! 

No comments:

Post a Comment