The illustrated encyclopaedia of ugly animals by Sami Bayly

Lothian Children's, 2019. ISBN: 9780734419019. 130pp., hbk.
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then ugly must be too and so natural history illustrator Sami Bayly has collected the creatures for this compendium to celebrate her passion for all things weird and wonderful.
There are more than 60 unusual creatures to explore through scientific illustrations and facts and figures, some of which will be familiar but many not-so. With information about what each looks like, what it eats, where it lives and its conservation status, as well as a collection of fun facts, readers are introduced to creatures such as the hellbender, the maleo, the sarcastic fringehead and the black rain frog. Just the names are intriguing.
This is a unique book, something totally different to add to the 591 section and to introduce to your budding natural historians. I suspect it will become one of those that groups of boys, particularly, will pore over in that group reading experience which is so essential to their literacy development.
You can learn more about the creation of the book and the selections within here and here while comprehensive teachers' resources are available here.
Barbara Braxton