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Animals Up Close by Igor Siwanowicz


J Nonfiction - 590 SIW
93 pages
2009

Fabulous! A nice big book with full sized photographs of a wide variety of very small creatures. Have you ever heard of a Prickly Phasmid? Or a Dune Tiger Beetle? How about a Variegated Locust? They, along with some other interesting animals, are all here. The author, Igor Siwanowicz, spent thousands of painstaking hours preparing for and taking these incredible pictures. And they really are "up close"! You will see the intricate details in feathers, antennae, scales, and fur. Each full page spread features one animal and gives information about where and how they live and other intriguing facts like why the gecko on the cover is actually licking its eye!

This is one of those books that anyone who picks it up, adult or child, boy or girl, will be drawn instantly into its pages and remain there, contentedly, for as long as allowed. A definite must for my collection.

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