Creature Colors & Creature Numbers

by Andrew Zuckerman

Chronicle Books      3/01/2014

978-1-4521-1668-6 / 987-1-4521-1667-9

Age 2 to 4         18 pages

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“Learn the rainbow with red snakes, orange fish, and yellow birds. Learn to count as two scorpions fight, four penguins waddle, and nine ants work. Andrew Zuckerman’s vivid pictures of fascinating animals from around the world will enthrall young readers and teach basic colors and numbers in a celebration of nature in two books that bring the wildly successful photographer’s work to a whole new audience. The up-close and personal photos of everyone’s favorite animals make these board books perfect educational tools for any child, and stunning works of art for animal lovers of all ages.”

Review

Creature Colors – The creatures represent ten different colors. Red snake), blue (parakeet), yellow (canary) are the primary colors and can make any other color. Green (frog), orange (bird), and purple make the secondary colors. Purple is not in the book. Black (bear), and white (snow owl), when blended in to any color will produce differing shades of that color. In addition to the primary, partial secondary, and the shading colors, the author adds the colors pink(flamingo), brown (seahorse), and gray (elephant).

Creature Numbers – Here, different animals than in the Creature Color book represent the numbers one to ten. I really like and appreciate that in Creature Numbers each animal is identified on the page. There is 1 kangaroo, 2 tigers, and 3 chimpanzees. In addition, the kangaroo is jumping, the tigers are playing, and the chimpanzees are running. The child will not only learn to count from 1 to 10, but will learn a new animal, and an action word on each spread. There are macaws, penguins, sheep, fish, and two animals identified by a body part rather than a name. The shark is fins and a spider is legs. I do not know why that is, unless the idea of 5 sharks or 5 spiders was creepy (I agree with the spider, where even one is creepy to me. No sense scaring anyone.)

The photographs are magnificent portraits of these wild animals. Only thing close to these would be an actual trip to the wild. Kids will love these pictures and will quickly decide on a favorite. Each animal is photographed against a white background, eliminating anything that might draw the child’s eye and attention away from the animal. According to Chronicle Books:  “. . . Zuckerman utilizes a multitude of platforms to produce work that is systematically executed, conceptually based, and democratically presented. Minimalist in nature, Zuckerman aims to create atmospheres of clarity and neutrality to facilitate the viewer’s access to the material.”

The Creature board book series also includes Creature Sounds and Creature Baby Animals (all $7.99). The Creature ABC is a larger book with 120 pages of animals from alligator to zebra. This larger book is suitable for any age, and would be a magnificent way for anyone to learn the ABC’s.

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Adult books include Creature, a 300-page book with 175 animal portraits (ISBN 9780811861533, $60), Bird, another 300 pages with 200 photographs of 75 different species of birds (ISBN 9780811870986, $60), and Flower with 150 close-up photographs of exotic to everyday flowers species (9781452112169, $75).

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Kids will enjoy these animals, all expertly photographed by Andrew Zuckerman, a critically acclaimed filmmaker and photographer. Each book is an interesting way for children to learn numbers, colors, sounds, and baby animals, in addition to ABC’s with the larger edition of the Creature series. The pages are thick, making them easier for little fingers to turn without tearing. The glossy coating will easily let you wipe off a spot of jelly—ask me, I “tested” this feature. The smaller size is perfect for little laps.

If your child is fascinated with animals, there is no better way to introduce him or her to both the skills needed for kindergarten and a variety of animals. The children’s Creature series is a great introduction to the grand animal photography of Andrew Zuckerman at a fraction of the cost of his larger books.

CREATURE COLORS & CREATURE NUMBERS. Photography copyright © 2014 by Andrew Zuckerman. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA.

Learn more about Creatures HERE.

Purchase any of the Creature series at Amazon—B&N—BookDepository—Chronicle Books—your local bookstore.

Also available on iTunes.

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Meet photographer Andrew Zuckerman at his website:   http://www.andrewzuckerman.com/

Find amazing kids books at the Chronicle Books website:  http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/kids-teens

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