Our next Book on the Bird Table is another wonderful offering from author Vicky Woodgate, I am BIG I am Small, published by Scholastic.
Here, she tells us how she came to create a comparison book aimed at early years readers:
“Non-fiction for younger children is a great way to open the door to readers who love a fact, and being able to dip in and out of a book. For first time reading either with someone or on their own, it’s a terrific way to learn interesting words accompanied by pictures, but not be overwhelmed by a story arch or a subject or character that does not interest them.
With that in mind and wanting to reach a younger audience of 3 and upwards, I’d always wanted to create a comparisons book, but with a picture book feel. And rightly – everyone loves animals, yes? The perfect combination.
This took me down a great animal research rabbit hole. There are many comparison books out there but are there any that uncover the awesome fact that binturongs (bearcats) smell of popcorn? – smells nice.  Or that anteaters – the Southern tamandua (in particular) are really and truly very whiffy – smells stinky!
Giant squid are the size of a school bus, but the tiniest of sea horse – the Japan pig – is only the size of a grain of rice! And so, I am BIG I am Small was born.
Here are a few amazing animal facts I uncovered:
Rainbow billed toucans have beaks full of colour, but did you know that toucans use their bills to play sword fights with each other – even throwing fruit at their rivals? With a nickname of the flying banana, they really are a little bonkers.
Not so bright is the mysterious black panther. Really, they are a type of leopard or jaguar, with lots of pigment called melanin that makes their fur dark coloured. However they are not completely black, they do have spots, they are just difficult to spot, and who wants to get close enough to see that!
Elephants are pretty loud, their trunks amplify their calls, however they also make a rumbling sound to communicate and this can travel up to six miles away. It’s too low a frequency for us to hear but it travels through the air and the ground, and the elephants can pick up the chatter through their feet, neat!
Meanwhile, I was astonished to discover that giraffes are a quiet animal; for an animal so large, this was a surprise. They actually use their necks to communicate by waving them. They do make a noise though, a quiet humming sound, and this also is often too low for us to hear – fascinating.
Crows are a great bird – super intelligent they can count to four and their brains, along with ravens’ and parrots’, have the biggest brain-to-body size of all bird types. They can recognise themselves in a mirror and even read traffic lights!
But what doesn’t have a brain? Jelly fish! With no eyes, heart, bones or brains, instead they have a ‘nerve net’ spread throughout their body, helping them to catch food, have babies, swim and stay safe – incredible!
We all love a soft adorable looking animal, so centre stage we have the fluffy chinchilla. I discovered in the wild that they live in herds in cosy burrows – they are originally from South America and are now only found in the wild in Chile – and their ancestors first appeared 41 million years ago! They have a surprising relative, the spiky porcupine. Not fluffy or soft but very prickly, they have over 30,000 quills (spikes) all over their bodies and their babies are called porcupettes – now that is cute.
And finally, let’s end on a fast and slow comparison. It’s all in the name, a slow loris, a type of primate, they stalk their prey really slowly, then stay stock still, then pounce… but that’s not the interesting bit! They actually have two tongues… one to eat with and one to clean their teeth!
Meanwhile, the cheetah is officially the quickest animal on land. They can get up to 70 mph (112km) in just three strides – now that’s fast!
And a bonus smelly fact – a spade toad smells like peanut butter!”
Yet another fabulous animal spotter book for children!
You can find out more amazing animal facts in I am BIG I am Small by Vicky Woodgate, available at bookstores including Amazon and Waterstones.
I am BIG I am Small
£7.35
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