A nice picture book which introduces basic facts about whales and what they are: mammals rather than fish. Includes nice pictures (with some beautiful scenery) and informative text.

This is my favorite of the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Handbooks and I would venture to guess that it's probably the best bird handbook you can find. Hundreds of birds, from doves and swallows, to hawks and falcons and tropical birds are included with clear photos, a small map of where they can be found, an icon showing how large they are in comparison to the book, and other basic information about their habitat, migration, etc. Our family has used this guide extensively in identifying and learning more about the substantial variety of birds we find in our own backyard. It's also interesting to see pictures of the sorts of birds we probably won't see in our backyard, such as penguins, turkeys, and eagles. The information appears to be limited to facts about different species of birds, rather than getting into more theoretical and philosophical (not to mention controversial) areas such as evolution and the environment.

Like most art students and lovers, I have had mixed feelings about the architecture of Gaudi all my life. When our oldes son visited Barcelona and sent pictures of Gaudi buildings, I planned on learning more about him. Now I find this new and remarkable picture book telling children about a man who was perhaps little understood during his lifetime.

What I find in the warmly-illustrated pages is a likeable man! A devout Catholic, a lover of nature and of poverty, married to his life's hard work. Perhaps his art isn't traditional, in any shape or form, but there is a genuine aspect of Gaudi's work that one can't help being attracted to.

This picture book does a good job of bringing his life and work to young children and it is a fun read aloud, written in the present tense, in poetic lines. The author's note adds important biographical information including the fact that he was a very early recycler, using all sort of discarded materials in his buildings. A list of websites is also listed. I found this list of buildings with photos very useful!