Animal opposites at the zoo by Emilie Tavaearii (illus.)

A board book about animals is always a winner, and this one (one of a pair, the other being We’re going to the zoo) will sit well with all young kids, eager to see more of a zoo and its inhabitants. And with the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background, they can only be about Taronga Zoo.

Each page opens with a familiar animal and a word describing one of their attributes while the opposite page shows an animal with an opposing attribute. The first page shows a penguin, and we are told he is short, while the next page shows a giraffe, and we are told he is tall.

In this way the readers see two animals that are opposite and can learn the animals’ names as well as the words which describe them.

Over the page we have a tortoise and a cheetah, slow and fast, the next a snake and a hippo, long and round and so on. So, readers get to meet a peacock and a zebra, a rhino and a meerkat, a red panda and a pangolin, a tiger and a quoll, an elephant and a mouse, a monkey and a koala, each time learning a little about each animal as it is compared to another. Altogether it is a delightful way to teach younger readers about animals and differences. Understated illustrations add to a child’s knowledge with a little of the environment that each animal inhabits shown in the background.

A lovely book to introduce younger readers to the animal world, and particularly Taronga Zoo. 

Themes: Taronga Zoo, Animals, Zoos, Differences, Opposites, Humour.

Fran Knight