Creatures Great and Small

Linda Ludke is a children’s librarian at the London Public Library.

In this well-designed non-fiction picture book, two species are compared
on each double-page spread. A huge anaconda slithers through lush, green
foliage as a tiny dwarf gecko hangs upside down on a tree branch that
artfully unites the split scene. The massive trunk of an African
elephant sways its way into the starry night of a bumblebee bat. An
ostrich dashes across two-thirds of the page while a bee hummingbird
hovers on the right-hand side. “Great and Small” representatives
from the world of insects, fish, sea jellies, amphibians, crustaceans,
arachnids, and mollusks are also included.

Each creature provides a first-person introduction: “Even though I am
almost transparent, can you spy my little eye in this freshwater stream?
Because I have no eyelids, my eyes are always open. Even while I
sleep!” (dwarf goby).

Unfamiliar words such as “echolocation,” “proboscis,” and
“swimmerets” are defined in a glossary. Concepts of scale are
further explained in labelled illustrations and magnified close-ups at
the end of the book. Highly recommended.