Animal activity: Cut, fold and make your own wild things by Isabel Thomas

Ill. by Nikalas Catlow. Bloomsbury, 2017. ISBN 9781408870068
(Age: Independent readers) Recommended. The subtitle 'Cut, fold and make your own wild things!' gives a good indication of what the user can find inside. Once opened the words 'This book will self-destruct' are sure to intrigue and make the reader wonder just what they are going to find inside and just how one makes a book destroy itself. The instructions on 'How to wreck this book' will take any user off on an adventure learning about the natural world. Choosing 'Make a flower explode' (page 37) gives instructions on pulling a flower apart and naming its parts. 'Turn paper back into a tree' gives instructions for making a paper tree, and peopling it with creatures. The reader will have fun going outside, shaking a tree and seeing what living creatures fall out!
There are many such activities in the book, each providing hours of fun while the user learns about the natural world and animal activity. Many require scissors, glue and paint and some need an adult to supervise, but all will keep the reader occupied and interested. Certainly the book will not be intact after children start using it.
This would be a wonderful book to have on hand for holiday enjoyment or to use to pry young children away from their screens. Teachers may also find that many of the activities could be useful in the classroom.
Pat Pledger