Beastly puzzles A brain-boggling animal guessing game

Rachel Poliquin, 1975-

Book - 2019

"Bamboozling clues need a curious mind to piece together thirteen different animals. The animals in question are easily recognizable: ostrich, polar bear, snail, puffer fish, albatross, sloth, lobster, bullfrog, kangaroo and giraffe. But the clues are not what you'd expect (e.g. "3 billiard balls," "egg cozies," "an extra leg," "chainsaw," "dinosaur feet," "a speedometer," "poison to kill 30 humans"). The clues are wryly illustrated in scenarios unrelated to the animals-for example, the ostrich is composed from items in a "gentleman's den"; the albatross is pieced together from stored items in a jumbled attic. For each animal, a gatefold opens to ...reveal the animal in the room, with each clue explained, along with other fascinating information about the animal."--

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Bookmobile Children's Show me where

j590/Poliquin
1 / 1 copies available

Children's Room Show me where

j590/Poliquin
1 / 1 copies available
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Bookmobile Children's j590/Poliquin Checked In
Children's Room j590/Poliquin Checked In
Subjects
Genres
Picture puzzles
Puzzles and games
Picture books
Published
Toronto, ON : Kids Can Press [2019]
Language
English
Main Author
Rachel Poliquin, 1975- (author)
Other Authors
Byron Eggenschwiler (illustrator)
Item Description
"Open the flap to solve the puzzle"--Cover.
Physical Description
32 pages : color illustrations ; 29 cm
ISBN
9781771389136
Contents unavailable.
Review by School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-5-Drawing on the practice of early natural historians, Poliquin's new book asks readers to guess an animal based on seemingly unrelated features. What animal could you make with dinosaur feet, several feather dusters, and a lion-killing kick? Or invisibility, extra neck bones, and fly paper? Each page features Eggenschwiler's beautiful monochromatic ink drawings digitally rendered, and highlighting the "creature features" in various colors. When you've made your guess, flip open the gatefold to reveal the animal within and the facts relating to each unique feature. The back matter gives a glossary of terms and a bit of further information about the book's concept and natural historians' tendency to combine known animals and objects to describe their discoveries. -VERDICT Its quirky design would provide excellent context for a fun, engaging school project, and children and adults alike will have a blast guessing each animal. Highly recommended for school libraries.-India Winslow, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

A natural-history guessing game, with sets of "bamboozling" hints to what animals lurk behind gatefold flaps.Poliquin challenges readers to imagine which animal could be made up of, for instance, dinosaur feet, feather dusters, "a lion-killing kick," three billiard balls, and a handful of like components. Lifting the foldover reveals the answeran ostrichalong with explanations (the balls represent the bird's eyes and brain) and additional facts, all delivered in a breezy style: During dry spells, ostriches "get moisture from grasses, roots, leaves, and an unlucky lizard or two." Eggenschwiler realistically portrays the 12 animals and the sometimes-outr clues (a blender turns out to represent a tarantula's digestive juices; a "3-legged woman" notionally suggests a red kangaroo's ambling gait) in contrasting hues over corrugated monochrome scenes of mildly cluttered rooms, workshops, garages, and like settings. The author's closing note on the exotic portmanteau creatures sometimes found in old travelogues points both to the source of her inspiration and a promising line of inquiry for budding naturalists with a historical bent.Definitely bamboozlingbut in a good way, as exercises in unconventional logic. (glossary) (Informational novelty. 8-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.