Wanted! Criminals of the Animal Kingdom

Title: Wanted! Criminals of the Animal Kingdom
Author: Heather Tekavec
Major Themes: Animals, Nonfiction Science, Picture Books
Synopsis: Thirteen animals are presented, with descriptions of their “crimes” and information about how to deal with them.

I enjoy picture books about animals. Wanted! Criminals of the Animal Kingdom is a fun way to introduce some very unusual animals. We read a two-page spread of this book each day as part of our morning read-aloud time recently; I try to read something science- or history-related each morning. These were nice, bite-sized bits of fun, random information about creatures we hadn’t necessarily heard about before.

Each of these pages tells about a different animal. Each one gives a funny name to the creature, such as Ms. Jagged Jaws, who is wanted for illegal fishing. A description of the crime is given, and a warning for your own safety—what you should or shouldn’t do when dealing with this dangerous criminal. Then, there is a rap sheet, with the facts about the creature (and its real name), given in quite a humorous way.

Quite a variety of animals are introduced in this fun, well-illustrated book. They range from the anglerfish to the cuckoo, to the llama. Their crimes? They range from disturbing the peace to mischief, to outright theft! Very few witnesses are ever available, however. They have been eaten or charmed by the villain.

Wanted! Criminals of the Animal Kingdom is a great book to give to children who love animals. It’s also a good one to leave laying around for children to pick up when they don’t have anything else to do. I would love to have a print copy of this book!

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley, and these are my honest thoughts about it.

No warnings!

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