A First Book of Animals

A dazzling collection of poems, featuring over fifty different kinds of animals from all around the world.

Nicola Davies, the award-winning author of A First Book of Nature, presents a spellbinding treasury of poems about the animal world, illustrated in breathtaking detail by Petr Horacek. Polar bears playing on the ice, tigers hunting in the jungle, fireflies twinkling in the evening sky and nightingales singing in the heart of the woods – there are animals everywhere.

From blue whales to bumblebee bats and everything in between, A First Book of Animals takes you all over the planet to visit all kinds of different creatures. This book is a glorious celebration of life in the wild in all its variety and splendour, and belongs on every child's bookshelf.

Book Features:

• Shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal

• Over 50 different different animals in five sections: "Big and Small", "Colours and Shapes", "Animal Homes", "Animal Babies" and "Animals in Action".

• Finely observed, informative poems by biologist and children's author Nicola Davies, accompanied by magnificent illustrations from Petr Horacek, one of the country's finest illustrators.

About the Author

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include A First Book of Nature, A First Book of the Sea, Tiny, Lots, The Promise, King of the Sky, Ice Bear, Big Blue Whale and the Ariki series. She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. In 2016, she became the first ever recipient of the SLA’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Information Books.

Nicola lives in Wales.

About the Illustrator

Petr Horacek trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague before becoming a graphic designer, painter and author-illustrator. His titles Strawberries Are Red and What Is Black and White? won the Books for Children Newcomer Award in 2002.

Born in Czechoslovakia, Petr now lives in Worcester with his wife and two daughters.