Watching a child’s mind and personality develop is one of the most amazing journeys I can think of. Our son has developed in ways that my wife and I have expected, and in many ways that surprise us daily. One thing I find most interesting is looking at his favorite books, websites, and his “imaginary” friends.
At the top of his book list is an encyclopedia: The Smithsonian’s Animal
A gift from his grandparents, this book — while not a childrens book — has become one of his daily “reads”. We have spent countless hours exploring this book with all of it’s amazing species from every corner of the animal kingdom. He often chooses this book as one of his nightly books to read. When he does this we choose a few pages from the front of the book — which covers habitats and other broad topics such as anatomy, classifications, conservation and life cycles — or we choose a small family or large genus to read about. Often we choose the animals to read about from events in the day, whether from a science show, another book, aor an animal spotted in town or at the aquarium.
With more than 2,000 species detailed and at least that many breathtaking photographs this is a visually and informationally rich resource. It is beautifully designed and the information it contains is well organized. Because it is not a childrens book, Johann will continue to enjoy this book for years to come. Even now we can see how he absorbs more from it today than he did a year ago when he first recieved it. If you have a young future biologist/zoologist/conservationist in your family I can’t possibly recommend this book enough.
