Menus for Meerkats and Other Hungry Animals

by Ben Hoare, Hui Skipp (illustrator)

48 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2024

About the author

Ben Hoare is an author and editor who specializes in natural history. He has written or contributed to more than 40 reference books. His work has also appeared in BBC Wildlife and Birdwatch magazines and on BBC websites. He is a Fellow of the Zoological Society in London and presents regular talks and lectures at the Natural History Museum, London.

Reviews

[Stephanie Tournas]

Ten animals and what they eat are covered in this cheerfully illustrated non fiction book for young children. Each animal gets two full two-page spreads. The first gives the animal’s “menu” – main course, sides, and drinks, in descriptive labels with pictures, and a map of the world showing where it lives. The second spread is more expository, explaining how the animal finds its food, and interesting facts about their eating habits, as well as a blurb about their size. For instance, meerkats can eat scorpions as they are immune to the venom; great white sharks eat rotting flesh.

I like how the information is laid out. Pages are not too cluttered with facts, and the cartoony but realistic illustrations set the tone of the animal’s habitat with color and patterns, and images that show the food. The animals shown are likely to be familiar and interesting to the target audience such as koalas, grizzly bears and cobras. The book offers an fun entry into the study of the natural world – every living thing has to eat. There’s a table of contents, a glossary of terms and an index.

What could have been improved: The small map inserts that show where the animals live do not identify the area by country. Young readers are unlikely to be able to identify the continent or country by shape. There are no sources listed.

[Naomi Smits]

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