Amazing Animal Journeys by Jennifer Cossins

Title: Amazing Animal Journeys

Author: Jennifer Cossins

Genre: Non-fiction

Publisher: Hachette Australia/Lothian

Published: 26^th October 2022

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 60

Price: $26.99

Synopsis: A beautifully illustrated title chock-full of fascinating animal facts from our bestselling, CBCA award-winning Tasmanian children’s author/illustrator, Jennifer Cossins, that focuses on 25 animal species from Australia and around the world with intriguing migration journeys.

Did you know that Arctic terns have the longest migration of all birds, flying from the Arctic to Antarctica and back each year? Or that the wildebeest migration in east Africa is so vast it can be seen from outer space?

Come along on these amazing animal journeys! Perfect for readers aged 7+ who delight in learning about the animal kingdom and the world around them.

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Jennifer Cossins’ books about animals, their birds, animals as an alphabet and more continues with the latest book, Amazing Animal Journeys, which tells readers about the different kinds of migrations that all kinds of animals take across the world at different times, and for all different reasons. This book explores the migrations in an informative and vibrant way for readers aged seven and older – showing that picture books are for all ages. It is full of great facts that you can use at school, for study, or at trivia nights, so that makes this book a great one for all ages.

Jennifer Cossins writes and illustrates her own books, and they have a very delightful quality to them, and I think they’re great resources for schools, for libraries, and for home learning, as well as just the curious mind – at any age! The joy in these books comes from the inviting facts and way that everything is presented. It gives enough information to keep readers, especially kids, engaged, whilst still making sure that they aren’t overwhelmed with blocks of text. Each animal migration is spread across two pages, and some are linked to others, whilst many are unique and individual to the animals. I don’t know what my favourite was – just that I enjoyed reading about all the different animals and how they move across their environments.

It’s perfect for the home library and school libraries, as there will be many uses and applications for it across the curriculum and could even just be read for fun – like all books! I think this is a great book, because it can spark an interest in animals or feed an existing interest and help build on a broader knowledge base for those who want more in this area. It also shows that not all picture books have to be fiction or funny, and I love that today we are getting a very wide array of topics and stories in kids literature because it means that there will always be something out there for everyone to enjoy and engage with.