Book Review: Wildlife Anatomy (Julia Rothman)

Do you know all of earth’s many wildlife creatures? Do you know their variety and what they do? With this as a Christian blog, we can see the Creator’s skill in the rich array of animals we have on this planet. We should also be able to agree that they are important. However, many of us could care less. I grew up with a few animals, but I am not a so-called “animal person.” I don’t want to own them or take care of all of them. But books like this help….

Julia Rothman grew up on City Island in the Bronx in NYC. Her book is not all-encompassing on wild animals, but it covers where they live and the many different kinds of cats, reptiles, marsupials, monkeys, badgers, birds, and more, which your kids will love.

What’s Does This Book Cover?

There are six chapters on topics such as where animals live (their ecosystems, ch. 1), animals with claws (ch. 2), animals that go in herds (ch. 3), animals that have social networks (ch. 4), animals that burrow in the ground (ch. 5), and then just plain weird animals (ch. 6). That’s a simple overview, but there is so much here.

Rothman doesn’t give elaborate explanations for animals, which is a big plus. Instead she gives brief, simple explanations of one to five sentences about what an animal looks like, a peculiar hunting method they employ, how fast they run, how tall they are, or some other interesting feature. Because of this, your kids will remember more animals, and then later on they can gain new information about all of the new animals they learned.

Rothman doesn’t teach your kids about generic animals: crocodiles, snakes, sharks, bears, etc. But she brings in specific species of those animals. mugger crocodiles, cantil snakes, wobbegong sharks, and spectacled bears (as well as the lappet-faced vulture, the chital (has antlers), the bongo, the oxpecker, the bactrian camel, the mandrill, the black-bearded saki, and weddell seals, the pangolin, and the echidna, to name a few).

Recommended?

Like I wrote above, I never grew up surrounded by many animals. Even still, one can’t grow up surrounded by crocodiles, tigers, bears, and pangolins. This is a really fun book through which your children (and yourself included) will learn a lot about the different animals on God’s green earth—their diversity and their peculiarities. This is a book I would have wanted as a kid, but now I get to share it with my kids.

Buy it on Amazon or from Storey Publishing!

Lagniappe

• Author/Illustrator: Julia Rothman
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Storey Publishing (April 4, 2023)

Related Reviews

• Farm Anatomy
• Nature Anatomy
• Nature Anatomy Notebook

Review Disclosure: I received this book free from Storey Publishing. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html.

Amazon Affiliate Disclosure: I receive a percentage of revenue if you buy from Amazon on my blog (at no cost to you).