Author/Illustrator Karen Patkau
Tundra Books 2006
Ages 5-9
While scientists continue their ongoing search for new “Big” and “Small” species, CREATURES Great and Small presents many of the more unusual and captivating ones. Even the simple, fact-filled text is enchantingly presented in the voices of the animals themselves. Striking illustrations, a helpful glossary, map endpapers, and handy charts that introduce the concepts of scale and proportion, make this book a valuable educational resource and a must-have for parents, schools and libraries alike.
LOOK INSIDE
AWARDS & HONOURS
• Canadian Toy Testing Council Recommended Reads 2014
• Shining Willow Award Nominee 2008
• Canadian Children’s Book Centre Our Choice 2007 Selection
• Resource Links 2006 Year’s Best List
REVIEWS
• “Award winning author and illustrator Karen Patkau has produced a beautiful oversize non-fiction book which introduces the concepts of size and shape as well as scale and proportion to young readers. This book would make an excellent read aloud for non-readers and early readers but the fact-filled text will also appeal to independent readers. Patkau’s well researched book does an excellent job of defining the concepts … A must purchase….” – Resource Links
• “Young children have an enduring fascination with the various forms of life that inhabit their world. Such abiding curiosity ensures the popularity of a book like Creatures Great and Small … beautifully designed and illustrated … guaranteed to intrigue … a valuable addition to the biology section of the elementary school library. Librarians …will appreciate the reversible dust jacket, which provides a splendid poster to whet the interest of young nature-lovers.” – Highly Recommended — Canadian Materials
• “ … This well-conceived package makes a good companion to Steve Jenkins’s Actual Size … and Big and Little ….“ – School Library Journal
• “… The juxtapositions of contrasting animals are done with sensitivity without distracting from their natural differences, making for a book that is both attractive and informative.” – Children’s Literature
• “As the title suggests, the juxtapositioning of very large and very small is the name of the game here, and is made manifest through Patkau’s starkly beautiful renderings of representatives from the insect, fish mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, sea jelly, crustacean, arachnid and mollusk kingdoms…. The simple text reveals certain qualities of each creature, told by the creatures themselves. … In the last two pages of the book, Patkau offers some perspectives on size in charts that illustrate the categories into which each of the creatures in this book are grouped: Big, Really Big, Small and Really Small. A glossary of terms is a useful appendage.” – Globe and Mail
• “… Large and small creatures alike are contrasted and compared in a lovely, enchanting picture book designed to pick out the most unusual of species to applaud. Parents will find it an excellent way of introducing youngsters to the wonders of natural history.” – Midwest Book Review
• “Here is delight for the young child, beginning with a great blue whale that stretches over nearly four pages, partnered by a tiny red ant and its colony. Large and small are linked and contrasted throughout, some creatures so tiny they need a careful search, like the feather-winged beetle. … an outstanding addition to an elementary library.” – Deakin Newsletter
• “Good non-fiction books teach youngsters something new. This book bombards readers with something new on every page…. With just a few simple sentences, written in each animal’s voice, the author manages to say something surprising about them all. … Patkau’s illustrations are vibrant and have a distinct layering quality that makes them look three-dimensional.” – The Chronicle Herald
KAREN PATKAU 