Life-Size Zoo: From Tiny Rodents to Gigantic Elephants, An Actual-Size Animal Encyclopedia (U)

An elephant's trunk is so nimble, it can pick up a single blade of grass, and yet so strong, it can knock over a tree. Giraffes have eyelashes. Sloths hang from trees for days at a time without going to the bathroom. These are just some of the insights featured in Life-Size Zoo. Acclaimed wildlife photographer Toyofumi Fukuda visited Japan's premier zoos to capture remarkably vivid and detailed close-up photographs of 21 animals, from pandas and meerkats to giraffes, rhinos, and elephants (adult and baby). Each photograph is accompanied by a profile including body length, weight, and natural habitat, as well as fun facts about the animal.The New York Times - Leonard S. MarcusYoung children measure themselves against their parents, siblings, pets and friends as they come to grips with the various nuances of the concept of big versus small, eventually recognizing, for instance, that a clown's bulbous clodhoppers are "too big" and therefore funny. This portable zoo feeds their natural inquisitiveness, and Komiya's thoughtfully prepared "fun facts" and questions, tucked away comic-strip style in vertical panels at the right margin, make the book a kind of scavenger hunt as well.