I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review—poems about surprising animals, those bright and colorful, and weird animals.

Animals in Surprising Shades was a treat to read. As a elementary librarian who loves science, I would recommend this title to classroom teachers who feature poetry instruction in their curriculum. I enjoyed how this book introduced animals to the reader with poems while simultaneously introducing various poem styles and additional facts about the animals featured. I had fun with the last few poems and trying to guess which style was used for each. I think students would enjoy that interactive feature. On top of all this, the illustrations were vibrant and engaging. I would love to add this to our school library.

Brilliant and colorful creatures teach children about poetry in this well-written picture book featuring a strawberry poison dart frog, an orange eastern newt, a blue roller bird, and a violet snail, to name a few. Readers will learn about these unique creatures and their hidden talents, such as hiding from predators, dancing a courting dance, and regrowing a lost limb.

The author writes and teaches a variety of poetry forms, including; tanka, concrete, quatrain, persona, and haiku. It is also beautifully illustrated in a traditional gouache painting form to showcase the colorful creatures more vividly on each page.

The author's love of the written word, unique creatures, and the education of children, is evident in this first-rate children's book. This book is suited for younger readers because of the alluring animal illustrations and perfect for older primary-grade students who may be practicing writing through poetry forms.

I'll admit to not knowing quite what to expect here – a poetry collection all about the colours of the world's animals, or a book of nonsense verse showing critters off in silly, Lear-esque design combinations? Rest assured, if you like, that it's the former, so we get double-page portraits with verse and a bonus factoid paying tribute to some of the clever and startling visuals provided by some real world beasties. Where I think the most might be learnt is the fact this also hits a different poetic form at every opportunity, and discusses that, before dropping this for the last section so we have to identify the form ourselves. Thus we engage even more with these pages, and it turns equally, if not more so, from being a book about nature to being a benefit for students of poetry. Now, it's not a perfect example of either book, but the fact it serves more purpose than I had assumed I think alone earns it a fourth star.

This was a good book with beautiful words and pretty pictures. I like the glossary at the end too. This helps anyone who doesn’t know what something means.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Animals in Surprising Shades is a great addition to classrooms or home library.

For the first half of the book there is a wonderfully written poem accompanied by a beautiful, bright image, a fun fact and information about the poetic form used. Then they take away the Poetic form information, a fun little game to see if the readers can spot what type of poetic form is used. Then we get a glossary and sources that include websites you can visit to learn more

This book made my #teacher heart happy ❤️ If you are looking for a book that combines exploring and observing animals, learning about their unique characteristics, and #poetry , look no further!

I cannot wait to use this book in my classroom! The illustrations are vibrant, yet realistic. Also, each set of pages contain a poem, information and definition of the specific poetic style used, and additional information about the animal/subject of the poem. The last few poems in the book give the child the opportunity to name what poetic style is being used, an excellent way for them to practice this skill in a low-rush environment. The back of the book contains the answers as well as a kid-friendly glossary for terms used in the poems. This book also presents a challenge to the kids to choose their own animal to write a poem about using one of the presented styles of poetry.

This was a book that intrigued me due to the ray on the front and of course the fact that these animals are suppose to be surprising shades so which animals would they choose for the title of <i>Earth's colorful creatures</i>....

The book is broken-down into two parts with the first part providing the reader with seven species - one for each color of the rainbow -plus a few extra thrown in to provide more color choices. At the same time each entry's text is provided in a different poetical format thus the book is just as much a book of poetry as it is an exploration of animal colors. And due to this double theme in the first portion the reader is not only provided the information about the animal in the poem but also additional information that isn't in poetical format as well as information about the poetry style that was chosen for this particular entry. So you can use it as a book for teaching children about poetry, about colors in the animal kingdom or for both although I would lean more towards the first option.

Secondly in the second part the reader is introduced to another four animals while being encouraged to be able to guess what poetical style has been chosen for their entries. Again just like in the first entries the reader will be provided with an additional paragraph of information so they can learn more about the animals on the page.

Although the book is brightly illustrated and full of rich details to help the reader get a feel for where these animals lived I would have to say I was disappointed they would choose this medium over actual colored photographs of true specimens. But either way children will probably enjoy what animals were included.

In the end again I would say that readers may get more out of this particular book for its informative blurbs of poetry styles but then again really how much children do you know who are interested in poetry? As a result this book may find more of a niche in English classrooms that may have a dedication of a few days to teaching poetry rather than the science classroom.

**I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Welcome to the wonderful world of nature!
Each fauna presents with the Name of fauna with Poem, a simple definition of the Poetic Form for each, and a simple bit of Science. At the end there a glossary and some sources.
Loved it!
The illustrations by Annie Bakst are simply delightful, brilliantly colored, and memorable.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL and nonverbal, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Gnome Road Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

This book talks about many different animals that come in many different colors and hues from birds like the Blue Footed Booby to sea creatures like the Pink Manta Ray. Each animal is described in a poem some in Haiku's or concrete poems (ones that the words are used to form a picture). Each page has gorgeous pictures of the animal being described on that page.

If poems and fun, bright animals are your (or your kids') thing, then this is the book for you! Different styles of poems with information on their forms accompany poems and facts about each animal. Animals mentioned include strawberry poison dart frogs, blue-footed booby birds, pink manta rays, and more. This book is the perfect read aloud for any elementary age science class, whether you homeschool or teach in public school.

Brilliant concept! I find this book doubly informative, in the sense that it is not only about the colourful diversity of animals, but also about various poetic forms. The poems are fun and the illustrations are beautiful. I just love it!

This is the second book by Gnome Road Press I’ve read, and I am glad to see the same high quality and nature-related themes. One minor suggestion is perhaps to use a dyslexic friendly font to make the books even more accessible? I’ve seen some other children’s books do that and it feels much more inclusive. And of course audiobook (given that it’s a poem!) and tactile/braille versions would be wonderful too.

Thank you again Gnome Road Publishing for this ARC.

Not only are the poems delightful, the colorful illustrations pop. I love the extra information on the page, including the explanation of all the different poetic forms the author used, as well as interesting facts about the animals written about. A wonderful poetry book to add to a home or classroom collection!

Animals in Surprising Shades was a very creative book where each two page spread explains the type of poem being used and gives fascinsting science facts about different species.

Thank you, Gnome Road Publishing, for the advance reading copy.

I find the colourful graphic illustrations really good. They do stand out. I find the information given on the few beings informative and ideal for the reading age group.

However, I wish there were more.

But good nevertheless!