Creatures of camouflage and mimicry by Sami Bayly

The second book in the How We Came to Be Amazing Animal Stories written and illustrated by Sami Bayly, takes the reader through a wondrous journey over land and sea to discover some of the amazing creatures that share our environment. Beginning with the striking cover and gorgeous endpapers with snapshots of information about a number of different creatures, followed by a note from Sami and a checklist of the ways camouflage is portrayed, this book is a delight to read.

The book is divided into sections explaining each of the types of camouflage by introducing creatures who exhibit this behaviour. The first is appearance where there are facts about the chameleon, the buff-tip moth, and the ladybird mimic spiders. Sami then appears on the page diving to find a mimic octopus that can mimic a variety of different sea creatures.

More fabulous camouflage ways follow with amazing information to be shared. Here is just a snippet of that information: the smell of the stinkhorn fungus can mimic dog poo, rotting flesh and vomit (!); sound camouflage where the burrowing owl hisses like a snake; behaviour camouflage where the female bagworm will always live her life as a caterpillar in her case after laying her eggs; and finally location camouflage where the lichen huntsman spider has evolved hundreds of tiny hairs to cover its body and blend in with the lichen.

Throughout the book, the author shares with the reader lots of tantalising facts about different creatures in a personal and engaging manner. Each page is vibrantly illustrated and contains conversations between Sami and different creatures, speech bubbles and fact circles. The final page shows a number of camouflaging creatures with one special one to find.

Another wonderful addition to a school or public library or a gift for a young nature enthusiast.

Themes: Camouflage, Mimicry, Land & Sea Creatures, Evolution.

Kathryn Beilby