D'Aulaires' Book of Animals (New York Review Books

by Ingri d'Aulaire, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire

THE CELEBRATED HUSBAND-AND-WIFE TEAM OF INGRI AND EDGAR PARIN D’AULAIRE
prepared this exceptionally beautiful volume for their own son Ola, and it is as fresh and enchanting today as it was when it first sprung from their imaginations.
D’Aulaires’ Book of Animals introduces young children to the creatures of every continent. Here more than fifty animals lithographed in full color form one side of a book that can be read page by page or unfolded to form a continuous panorama; the flipside of the panorama reveals the nighttime world of the animals in the very same settings. Each tableau presents the subjects in their native environments—from the tropical to the arctic—and is rendered with the exemplary richness of color and delightful understanding of the children’s world that distinguish the d’Aulaires’ much-loved retellings of the Norse and Greek myths and their wildly playful Book of Trolls. Young children, meeting animals from all over the world for the first time, will be delighted not only with the animals themselves but with the simple and engaging text which provides information about the way they act, the world they live in, and—best of all—the sounds they make. D’Aulaires’ Book of Animals is not only a perfect picture book for preschoolers, but a work of art that can be enjoyed by all.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Nature, Science, Nonfiction

30 pages, Hardcover

First published April 24, 2007

About the author

Ingri d'Aulaire (1904-1980) was an American children's artist and illustrator, who worked in collaboration with her husband and fellow artist, Edgar Parin d'Aulaire. Born Ingri Mortenson in Kongsburg, Norway, she studied art in Norway, Germany and France, and met Edgar Parin d'Aulaire when she was a student in Munich. They married in 1925, and immigrated to the USA shortly thereafter, settling in Brooklyn in 1929. After pursuing separate careers initially, the couple turned to illustrating children's books together, releasing their first collaborative effort, The Magic Rug, in 1931. They settled in Wilton, Connecticut in 1941, and lived there until their deaths in the 1980s. Awarded the 1940 Caldecott Medal for their picture-book biography of Abraham Lincoln, the d'Aulaires published other children's biographies, as well as some notable works on Greek and Norse mythology. (source: Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice animal drawings. The Hippo was probably my favorite, but sadly it was the first animal in the book.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, but a little awkward with the long Pull-out one page. I was afraid of it getting ripped.

[LindaJ^ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book full of in color and black and white of animals (birds, fish, mammals, rodents, wild domesticated) in both color and black & white (or rather shades of grey). It is put together quite interestingly - first the color and then the B&W on the back side. The pages are not bound to the spine except for the first one, allowing all the pages to be spread out side by side. On the color pages, the animals are arranged by climate conditions, on the B&W pages the animals are matched with their sounds. It is very creative. The book was first published in 1940. The edition I read was published by the New York Review of Books in 2007.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

D'Aulaires' Book of Animals is an exquisite book that spans approximately 30 pages, but in reality is one long front and back page. The front page is in color and shows a variety of animals ranging from whales to elephants. These color pages show the animals in their natural habitat and contain few words at the bottom describing the location where they live (like North or South) and why they live there. The reverse side is black and white and shows you the same animals, but this time the text at the bottom tells you the different sounds the animals make. I've seen the age range on this book for children ages 2 to 5, but I would say 5 is the minimum age. More rambunctious children might tear or rip this illustrious foldout page. Still a very pretty book!

[Amanda Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations in a uniquely formatted book. The book features a variety of wild and domestic animals. It can be read like a normal book, but is actually one, large foldout page.

When the book is fully open, it's a single illustration that beautifully transitions between habitats. On the reverse side of the colored illustration is a duotone illustration that is roughly the back view of the colored illustration.

It's a fun format for children as well as being a work of art adults can likewise appreciate.

[Becker Children · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess from reading the D'Aulaire's biography and mythology books, I have come to expect a lot of information from the D'Aulaire's, so I thought this might be a neat book to dive a little further into a favorite subject of my kids: animals. The illustrations, as always, are lovely, but the content is pretty limited; way fewer words per page or words overall than any other D'Aulaire book we've read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fold-out book was quite the hit during storytime - had the children stand up and hold the book "carefully since Miss Susan borrowed it from the library!". Unfolded, it is at least five feet long, colored animals on one side, black and white on the other. A fun way for them to see there is more than one way to make a book.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book for young, and not so young, children. Long, attached, pull-out insert of the D'aulaire's lovely illustrations of animals in their habitats in color on one side, and in black and white, in reverse, on the other side. That is, you get to see the animals (and background) depicted from both front and back. Clever and intriguing.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aularie prepared this book for their son in 1940 (orig titled, Animals Everywhere) using a beautiful (and unwieldy) lithographic technique. The result, a beautiful tableau of over fifty animals that can be read page-by-page, or unfolded into a stunning 8-foot long landscape. Your kids are going to love this. You’re going to love this.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The D'Aulaires' illustrations are remarkable and the accompanying text is clever. I think children ages 5+ would really enjoy this book.

[Min · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a reworking of an earlier book by the d'Aularies called Animals everywhere.
In this new edition, the color images describe the climate zones in which animals live, then the 'flip' side is monochrome giving the name of the animals and they sounds they make. They text is altered from the original; much edited down. Also, for the 'reverse' side with monochrome, the images of the animals are from behind.

This would work well for a child to learn to read-along.

[jw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations of all the different animals but the single page pullout was very unwieldy. The simple text suggests it would be better for younger children but the pages would be easily ripped by this age group

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extra star for panorama

[Beverly Rowls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations of the environments where different animals. I loved the way the book is designed so that there is one story going left to right and another story going right to left.

[Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Illustrations are so so, I was underwhelmed, but I can see how it would be pretty awesome to a kid

[E & E’s Mama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elliot loves animals, so he’s been enjoying this book. It has simple narration (basically categorizing animals by ones that like cold temps, hot temps, and mild temps). The illustrations are realistic but aren’t super impressive, in my opinion. They look like they were drawn with color pencils. It’s not bad; I guess I just prefer painted illustrations? The book is unique in its layout: you can unfold the pages to a panorama or read it like a normal book. Elliot likes it a lot more then I do


* Library book
*Read-aloud to Elliot at 1.5 years old