Animalia (book)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox book Animalia is an illustrated children's book by Graeme Base. It was originally published in 1986, followed by a tenth anniversary edition in 1996, and a 25th anniversary edition in 2012. Over four million copies have been sold worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A special numbered and signed anniversary edition was also published in 1996, with an embossed gold jacket.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Synopsis

Animalia is an alliterative alphabet book and contains twenty-six illustrations, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each illustration features an animal from the animal kingdom (A is for alligator and armadillo, B is for butterfly, C is for cat, etc.) along with a tongue-twister utilizing the letter of the page for many of the words. The illustrations contain many other objects beginning with that letter that the reader can try to identify (e.g. the "D" entry features, besides a pair of dragons, the dinosaur Diplodocus and the pelycosaur Dimetrodon; however, there are not necessarily "a thousand things, or maybe more", contrary to what the author states; for instance, the "A" entry features an alarm clock, as does the "C" entry; also, a tennis racket appears in the "T" entry as well as in the "R" entry). As an additional challenge, the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture.

Related products

Julia MacRae Books published an Animalia colouring book in 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> H. N. Abrams also published a wall calendar colouring book version for children the same year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

H. N. Abrams published The Animalia Wall Frieze, a fold-out over 26 feet in length, in which the author created new riddles for each letter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Great American Puzzle Factory created a 300-piece jigsaw puzzle based on the book's cover.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Adaptations

A television series was also created, based on the book, which airs in Canada. The Australian Children's Television Foundation released a teaching resource DVD-ROM in 2011 to accompany the TV series with teaching aids for classroom use.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2010, The Base Factory and AppBooks released Animalia as an application for iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch.<ref> Template:Cite web </ref>

Awards

Animalia won the Young Australian's Best Book Award in 1987 for Best Picture Story Book.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Children's Book Council of Australia designated Animalia a 1987 Picture Book of the Year: Honour Book.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kid's Own Australian Literature Awards named Animalia the 1988 Picture Book Winner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• Graeme Base's official website
• A Learning Time activity guide for Animalia created by The Little Big Book Club