We all know that the kangaroo is the national animal of Australia, and the Giant Panda that of China. But did you know that the Crocodile is the national animal of Timor-Leste and the Black Rhino that of Lesotho?
In this book, brown bear takes a journey around the world to meet the national animals of different countries. Each animal speaks to the reader and then joins bear on his journey along the bottom of the book. This would be a great book for a topic on animals or when looking at adaptations in science. The bold and bright illustrations accompany the child-friendly language which makes this book really accessible for young readers.
The book ends with a reminder of why we should take care of our environment and the negative impact humans can have on the populations of different animals.

I don't know about anyone else, but I had never really thought much about what animals might be the symbol for other nations, so This was a fun exploration. Some will come as little surprise - the kiwi for New Zealand, the panda for China, the Lemur for Madagascar - but others required a bit of explanation. And we do get that. Each page gives us a few facts about the animal and a sentence or two about why they are the symbol for that nation. With a simple vocabulary and cartoon style illustrations even a young child will enjoy this book in small doses.

Meet the National Animals; Fun animal facts from around the world by Catherine Veitch is a delightful guide to animals which includes adorable illustrations and wonderful facts! :)

Catherine Veitch’s Meet the National Animals is a fun and educational picture book starring a variety of awesome animals who represent countries from all across the globe. The light and engaging writing is easy to follow and I love Shiori Saito’s cute art. This book will be perfect to teach younger readers about the importance of animals and preserving nature. It is also a great treat for adults who enjoy trivia.

This simple and easy-to-read book is so interesting! Veitch briefly introduces readers to many different and fascinating animals from lions (England) to giraffes (Tanzania) to unicorns (Scotland) and mythical dragons (Wales)! Russia’s national animal The Brown Bear is our guide throughout this educational journey as he introduces us to other national animal friends. We learn about the animals and what makes them so unique.

I love the charming and fun narrative with Brown Bear as our guide to meeting the animals. Kids will definitely enjoy following as a series of animals march along the bottom of each page with Brown Bear–some even ride on each other’s backs while others play and sing together! Each animal has their own dedicated page showcasing fascinating facts about them and their country. I like that each animal introduces themselves briefly in a witty and humorous way with simple kid friendly language. I also like that the book gently encourages conservation in a way that isn’t preachy or forceful.

I like that the book features both real animals as well as legendary ones. I also appreciate the little section at the end about the poor extinct Dodo because it is important to teach kids (and us adults!) to cherish and preserve nature before it’s too late.

I’m far removed from this book’s target audience but I learned quite a bit! Papua New Guinea’s beautiful Raggiana Bird-of-Paradise is so important that it appears on the country’s flag while Pakistan’s Markhor has fantastic horns that can grow to 63 inches! The Isle of Man’s tailless Manx Cat is a local celebrity while The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Okapi is so shy that some people don’t even believe that they exist!

Saito’s artwork is funny, lovely, and colourful! I love that every single page is cheerfully fun and is filled with movement and soft colours. The nicely detailed animals are adorably rendered. Kids will love noticing all the funny little details.



🐻🐻🐻🐻🐻 out of 5 friendly brown bears!

Fun way to learn more about animals and the places that love them! So many great facts that many people probably don’t know too! Great for the classroom setting!

I got this on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely love any non-fiction book that collects a lot of information about similar things for kids, and this was no different! I love the illustrations, the selection of animals/countries and the facts! An excellent addition to your classroom or school library if you need more about a selection of National Animals worldwide!

I would love for there to be more books like this (in general or that this could be a series)!

What a wonderful book!
This grandmother learned a lot about animals I knew and those I didn't. Who knew that some of these animals ONLY live naturally in the countries which have claimed them as Nationals? Great read and impressive learning tool!
The illustrations by Shiori Saito are fun, simple, colorful, and delightful.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Quarto Publishing Group/Frances Lincoln Children's Books/Happy Yak via NetGalley. Thank you!

Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for the ARC of this!

Very cute look around the world at different animals. I liked that the pages included the country’s flag, animal and a short blurb information about the animal. We really enjoyed the artwork!

Amazing way to make people know about National animals of different countries.

Illustrations are soothing and funny too. Such ways are way better to let children learn more about the topic and enjoy as well along with learning. Such picture-books must be included in KG curriculums and even primary students will find it connected. Knowing national animals and there little acts and reason why they have been selected for their respective countries is partly new to me too. So definitely it will be for many others.

I recommend it to all to read and have knowledge with fun.

For me it is 5.0/5.0

Written in first person, this book tells the reader about each animal’s features, where it lives and other interesting facts. The book compiler, brown bear introduces the whole book and concludes it with the map of each of the animals. Brown bear and his caravan of national animals, also grows along the bottom of each double page spread, so younger children can count and recall all the animals introduced so far. This is a really useful feature for reading with younger children, since we are always looking interesting for ways to help children recall facts. The vocabulary used in the book is challenging without being overwhelming. Just the right balance for our six year olds.

The illustrations really helped our young readers to understand the text, for example, the children didn’t know what a fennec fox was. After looking at the pictures in the book, they knew that it was a desert fox, just with long ears! This also lead to a discussion about adaptations to desert life with the children.

I would recommend this book for 5+ year olds. This book is a gem.
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).

This is a cute, informative book about many national animals. I enjoyed each page as it had a few tidbits about each animal like why the shown country chose it, things that make it unique and it’s environment. I discovered new facts about some animals that I was surprised to see as a national animal. (I thinking of you, Flamingos in Bahamas!) This is definitely something I would share with children who are learning about animals and our world.

I received an arc via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

So cute and informative. My son loves reading this before bed. He loved seeing the different illustrations and learning how each animal connects to the certain part of the world.
Thank you so much for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This educational non-fiction book features over 35 awesome animals that represent their own particular country. The reader will find out why they are so unique and special and many interesting facts regarding them.

The text is witty, playful and loads of fun keeping even the youngest reader engaged in the narrative. The illustrations are large and bold highlighting each animal in a very kid-friendly manner.

The book not only introduces the animal star of the country but facts about the country itself. Conservation issues are touched on also which I really appreciated.

My favourite? The Beaver of course who represents my very own country of Canada! I know kids will love this book and go back again and again to enjoy all the fun and knowledge it has to share. I highly recommend Meet the National Animals! Is your country represented? Check out the book and find out.

'Meet the National Animals' by Catherine Veitch is a gorgeous fact book, introducing us to animals from around the globe. The layout of the information is engaging and the illustrations beautifully support this. The text is simple and short, perfect I think for aged 5-7. Older children, like my 9yo who reviewed this with me, might find it engaging but not as informative as they would need. It did however, introduce us to a few creatures we had not heard of before. We liked the inclusion of the flags to mark where each animal is honoured. My daughter also liked the inclusion of the unicorn and dragon. Whilst mythical , including these keeps a good focus on the title of the book.

A brilliantly engaging book that we could see using with my youngest daughter when she is a little older. A great book for sparking my eldest's curiosity to go and research more in-depth facts about these national animals.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfect for children and animal lover parents. The illustrations are gorgeous and I loved learning more about the animals !

The illustration style is exactly my cup of tea, I absolutely loved it! Everything about the design of the book was perfect too — from the placement of elements on the page, to the fonts chosen.

On the bottom of each page there’s a picture strip that shows the brown bear meeting all the animals, and they come along with him as he meets the rest. I thought this was a really fun touch that added much to the design of the book. I think it will look even better in the physical copy!

I learned so much more than I was expecting! I loved seeing all the different flags — I’m going to try to remember which belongs to which country.
At the end of the book, there is a map of the world with little icons of all the animals mentioned. “Can you remember the names of the animals and the countries they represent? Check back to see if you were right!” is asked by our narrator, the brown bear. It’s a fun way to keep kids engaged with the book and memorize these fun facts! I'd been hoping there would be a map at the end... If there hadn't been, I would've been very disappointed!

The facts about each animal are simple and short. I would’ve liked to learn a little bit more than what I got for each animal, but alas. I liked the addition of some mythical creatures like the unicorn! They may not be real, but they are those country's national animals and so deserve to be represented in this book, I think.

A perfect children's book! Not only does it go through and teach about the national animals of many countries, it gives a lot of fun animal facts that are quick to read and engaging. The art style is amazing and the animal facts and illustrations flow really well from page to page. It's both educational and fun and should be on your child's bookshelf!

Thanks to netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an electronic ARC from Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books through NetGalley.
Veitch takes readers on a trip around the world to learn about national animals of a wide variety of countries. The book starts with the brown bear who represents Russia. Readers journey with him as he meets animals who share information about themselves and their countries. Don't miss the ribbon running across the bottom of the page as it tracks the animals' journey and offers hints of who they will meet next. The text is simple for elementary level readers to follow, and the illustrations offer a clear look at each animal and the country they represent. I appreciate the author including the Dodo Bird of Mauritius as a reminder about caring for our planet. She also offers a challenge for readers to remember which animal represents which country at the end.
A terrific read alone or one to share as a family.

This is a fun and informative children's book! Kids will about a variety of national animals and their homelands, including a few magical surprises. My young kids enjoyed learning about the animals, discovering the different countries' flags, and using the map at the end to locate them all. This is a great book to introduce early elementary kids to some new places and animals.

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group – Frances Lincoln Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy to review! We enjoyed it.

Brilliant way to learn more about different countries and their animals. This book is beautifully illustrated and perfectly pitched to young readers.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.