Crash of Rhinos, a Party of Jays: The Wacky Ways We Name Animal Groups.

Alison Mews is co-ordinator of the Centre for Instructional Services at
Memorial University of Newfoundland.

This engaging book provides a humorous exploration of 11 collective nouns and the animals that inspired them. Both serious and offbeat, the combination of animal photos and playful illustrations will help young readers to remember the strange phrases. While a “pride of lions” may be familiar to some, who knew that a group of giraffes was called a tower or that when pheasants were clustered together they were considered a bouquet?

Illustrator Mariko Ando Spencer has allowed her imagination to interpret the terms in quite a literal manner—often with hilarious results. The “gang of elk” is seen holding up a bank with frightened sheep complying, whereas the “bed of clams” is listening to a goodnight story told by a kindly seahorse. On facing pages, an explanatory paragraph about the term is accompanied by a small colour photograph and, beneath a “need to know” arrow, are three tantalizing trivia items about the animal. Children will be amazed to know that polar bears even have fur on the soles of their feet and that elk can leap over fences taller than a door. Teachers can enliven either language or science classes with this book, but parents may want to get in on the fun. Highly recommended.