Review by Booklist Review
A companion to 2023's German import Genius Noses, this quaintly illustrated picture book about exotic animals with unique ears looks like a dusty tome that might be discovered in an old bookshop. The book is especially visually appealing. Detailed ink-and-colored-pencil artwork in muted earth tones covers two-page spreads, with large, detailed illustrations of featured critters facing pages filled with accessible blocks of text, plus three or four additional drawings showing the subjects in action. The illustrations also extend to the endpapers, offering maps and diagrams. The narrative concentrates on how particular ear features (shape, size, location) help each animal survive and communicate, offering basic facts and trivia bits that should resonate with young readers (lots of references to types of noises, such as chirping, coughing, bleating, and barking; insider details on how the young communicate with their mothers). The detailed glossary, unusual creatures, and source and chapter notes will be of interest to report writers. A worthy addition for most animal-book collections.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The creators of Genius Noses (2023) present a populous gallery of land animals with prominent ears--long, large, tufted, hidden, false, and sometimes red. The three examples in the "Sometimes Red-Eared" section--Tasmanian devils, black rats, and humans--point to a common theme: External ears serve multiple purposes beyond amplifying outside sounds. So it is that people blush, elephants use theirs as cooling fans, happy rats "smile with their ears," and wild donkeys swivel their long, expressive auricles like semaphores to signal moods. Anlauf's entries, translated from German, highlight these animals' distinctive general features or behaviors and frequently mention characteristic calls or sounds, such as an aye-aye parent's affectionate ggnoff to its offspring. Following a final set of animals, including the eared leafhopper, which has appendages that look like ears but aren't ("Leafhopper's ears are located on the insect's rear end"), a discursive glossary with diagrams gets into more detail about the inner and outer anatomy of hearing organs. Wild creatures, many sporting small smiles and prominent lashes, look alertly at viewers with direct, friendly gazes in Konstantinov's animated illustrations. From the tiny jerboa leaping energetically across the title page to the red-eared young couple (one dark-skinned, the other light-skinned and freckled) exchanging an embarrassed glance at the close, the art is loaded with lively appeal. A particularly engaging addition to natural history shelves. (map, sources and notes, index) (Informational picture book. 7-10) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
