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I just liked to look at the pretty pictures. It's still sitting on my bookshelf. I am 24 years old, and I've had this book as long as I can remember. The illustrations are absolutely stunning, and every time you look at the illustrations, you see more things in them than you previously did before. When all the kids were learning to read with Dr Seuss (who I found corny), I learned to read with Animalia. As a 5 and 6 year old, I don't remember it scaring me much (contrary to the parents/teachers who think it's inappropriate for a child). I still like it a lot now, but I LOVED it when I was a kid. I definitely recommend it.
This book is very artistic and it is fun searching for all the hidden items that begin with each letter of the alphabet, but the themes are too violent. I don't think an ABC book should have machine guns and kidnapping and other menacing imagery. I am returning it. I am a fan of Edward Gorey and for some reason, those books are delightful even if macabre, but this book is just creepy and unpleasant.
I love "Animalia", what more can I say but thanks to Mr. Base for taking the time to illustrate it so beautifully, insert the hidden images and find such humorous words. I bought 3 copies, one for each set of grandmonsters and one for my own self so I can pretend to be reading it to them while secretly enjoying it. It is a book for everybody.Lynn Batey
You can spend hours looking at one page and not find everything hidden in the illustrations.
I love how the different letters have completely different scenes and different 'feels' to them. I was interested by the illustration on the cover and ended up spending over an hour looking at the book. I found this book mis-shelved in a library when I was a senior in high school. I especially like the L page with the lazy lions lounging in the local library, and I love the titles of the books they're reading (Let's Learn Latin. I ended up receiving a copy a a gift a few years later when I showed the book to someone in a bookstore. It's delightfully detailed, and it's easy to spend ages looking at each individual page. HA). I'd recommend this book to anybody - big or little - who has an imagination and enjoys lovely illustrations (not to mention a good giggle).
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