Magnificent Creatures

by Anna Wright

Anna Wright's introduction to non-fiction and the natural world featuring an art style which mixes pen and ink, watercolour and fabric collage. Find out what 'pronking' is and how one jellyfish can become two in the descriptions.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Animals, Art

32 pages, Paperback

First published November 3, 2016

About the author

Anna Wright’s rural upbringing in Scotland introduced her to nature, and her interior-designer aunt inspired Anna’s love of fabric and wallpaper. She graduated from Edinburgh College of Art and uses her artistry to great effect on merchandise and in her original works and prints. Her work has been featured in House & Garden, Country Life, and
Artists & Illustrators. This is Anna’s first book.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author and artist Anna Wright grew up in the Scottish countryside where she developed a love for nature and the animals that live there. She studied art at the Edinburgh College of Art. In this beautifully illustrated book, Ms. Wright is able to combine both interests.

Unique pen and ink drawings which incorporate watercolor washes, scraps of colorful printed fabrics, or wallpaper provide eye catching portraits of animals. These illustrations serve to enhance the short and informative details given about specific animals in nature. Ms. Wright explains that on each page she attempts “to express the everyday joy, drama and flamboyance of the animal kingdom”.

This wonderful book would appeal to middle school children and adults as well!
It’s visually attractive and includes very interesting information too - did you know that “if a jellyfish is cut in two, the pieces of jellyfish will survive and create two new jellyfish”!

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

British author/artist Anna Wright, who made her debut with A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups , returns to the world of picture-book natural history in this lovely volume. Here she profiles twelve different kinds of creature, from sea turtles to zebra, and describes their various migrations...

Both informative and beautiful, Magnificent Creatures: Animals on the Move! is picture-book non-fiction at its best! The artwork, done in pen and ink, watercolor and collage, is absolutely gorgeous, utilizing lovely fabrics and shades to capture the wild appeal of the various creatures being depicted. This is my first book from Wright, but I certainly hope it will not be my last! Recommended to anyone looking for appealing new picture-books about animals in groups, and in migration.

[Marzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Urzekły mnie koronkowe meduzy i uśmiechnięte śledzie.

[Angela Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anna Wright's illustrations are exquisite. Just looking at the cover art makes me feel calm in an instant. Ha, I guess that I need more picture books in my life!

[Laura Mossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magnificent Creatures is a gorgeous nonfiction picture book that shares unique facts about animals on the move. I learned that when jellyfish swarm, it is known as a “bloom” and thousand of starlings moving together is called a “murmuration.” Springboks are a new animal to me and surprisingly, one of the fastest land animals in the world! What I love about this book is author/illustrator Anna Wright uses a variety of art styles such as pen and ink, watercolor, and fabric collage to showcase the beauty of all the animals. Looking forward to sharing this exquisitely stunning picture book with my art teacher as well as classroom teachers and students. Our first grade ELA curriculum also features a unit on animal teams so Magnificent Creatures would be a great read aloud during this unit.

A special thanks to Becky Kraemer for sending Magnificent Creatures to share with my #bookexcursion group. It celebrated its book birthday on July 17, 2018.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a gorgeous book! It's been a few years since I read A Tower of Giraffes: Animals in Groups, so I forgot how much I love Anna Wright's pen and ink collage style. While the text doesn't add much to what we already know about each species, the facts she's selected are interesting enough (zebra stripe patterns are as unique as human fingerprints, bumblebees live in underground burrows, etc.). The stunning illustrations are the real draw in this book.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The world is full of magnificent creatures great and small, in all their multitude of shades and colours, with their speckled feathers, patterned shells, their unique brand of camouflage."

I loved Anna Wright's use of mixed-media to bring the animals of her book to life. She is a very talented artist. Each page was a delight to explore. I also enjoyed that each page had a paragraph about the animal, it was perfect.

[Amber Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! This book is absolutely stunning. I loved everything about this book and immediately wanted to purchase it for many of my teacher friends. The mixed media approach and simple non-fiction text was perfect for readers. I couldn't wait to turn the pages and see what animal was next and how Anna decided to portray it.

[Michelle Boquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh I wanted to love this book, but sadly it falls short. It had great informational paragraphs, and beautiful art. Yet, the art is mixed media with patterned cloth that has nothing to do with the animals shown. It just is disconnected to the point that it’s distracting.

[Agnès · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful!

[Bella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely colour scheme. Text are lovingly constructed. I feel I were a young child again and I would have loved this book.

[Jessica Furtado · Rating 5 out of 5]

The information in this book is very basic, but the illustrations are incredibly striking. A great choice for young readers interested in a bit of information on interesting animals.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

So pretty! Beautiful illustrations with an interesting paragraph about each animal. Recommended for ages 6-9.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The illustrations in this book are unique, and simply magnificent!

[Kazia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the multimedia of the illustrations, and the production, as a whole, is nice.

[Erin]

Beautiful pictures and patterns and textures, and the final product is incredibly browsable. I only wish there was some end matter -- references or notes or additional information.

[Stef (Noveltea Corner) · Rating 5 out of 5]

From butterflies and bumble bees to jellyfish and zebras, Anna’s Wright’s beautiful non-fiction book about animals is a lovely introduction to the wonderful creatures that live on Earth.

Wright has used pen, ink, watercolour and collages to create illustrations that will delight and inspire young and old readers alike, while providing easy-to-access information about animals that are familiar, and a few that you may not have heard of before. (I know, I sat there wondering what a Springbok was, and now I know!)

While not a traditional non-fiction book about animals, Magnificent Creatures has a wonderful, whimsical quality that is intriguing and beautiful. Traditional pen and ink illustrations of animals are combined with watercolours and collage methods to expand on the natural patterns of animals in nature and highlight that no two animals in our world are exactly the same. It really highlights the uniqueness of our world in such a lovely, understated way that makes you look twice at each and every illustration.

Each animal - sea turtle, Springbok, jellyfish, crab, zebra, Starling, Monarch Butterfly, bumblebees, snow geese, Herring, Southern Carmine Bee-Eaters and fireflies - is accompanied by a paragraph highlighting some of their interesting features, as well as those small facts that all young children love to find and recount to everyone they know.

It is such a delight to be able to add this beautiful hardcover picture book into my collection - I know that I will be sharing it with my students for years to come.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and beautifully illustrated.

[Jo]

Beautiful images.