Strange Animals is an all-ages nonfiction selection curated and written by Tom Jackson. Due out 4th July 2023 from Amber Books, it's 224 pages and will be available in hardcover format.

This is an absolutely gorgeous and colorful collection of 100 animal profiles with masses of salient (and accessible) info about each animal. The book is fully illustrated and there are lots and lots of crystal clear macro photographs scattered throughout.

Entries are arranged geographically by continent: Asia, Africa, Australia, North America, Central & South America, Europe, and the Oceans. Each entry has a very large detailed photo (sometimes several on one page) with clearly written captions.

One disadvantage is that the animals are referred to throughout by common names, and not by current Linnaean/taxonomic classification. There is also no index listed in the ARC distributed for review. Full picture credits are included.

Four and a half stars. This would be a superlative selection for public or school library acquisition, or home use. The size (9"x11") and glossy format would make it a nice coffee table display book as well.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book makes me want to hug every single animal in it, even though I know that might be how I meet my demise someday. As an animal lover, I find myself drawn to informative books like this one. The stunning images of diverse animals from all over the world are simply breathtaking. Each animal is introduced with a brief but insightful blurb that captures what makes it so special and fascinating. Reading this book was truly enjoyable, and I highly recommend it to anyone who shares my passion for animals or simply appreciates the beauty of the natural world.

Stunning photography! How some of the shots were obtained must have been incredible! So many fascinating creatures in this book-quite a few creepy ones in amongst the cuter ones! I loved the information about them as you go along. This would make a wonderful gift or a nice coffee table book to flick through from time to time!

Strange Animals by Tom Jackson was both fun and informative! I absolutely loved the photographs. There are so many animals I never knew about. There are small bite-sized captions to provide some additional insights and information. What I truly enjoyed were the faces of so many animals as well as so many colors! My imagination would never come up with even half of what is captured in here! The book is broken up into regions from around the world, so enjoy your mini travel adventure and take in these wondrous creatures from afar.
I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

Strange Animals by Tom Jackson is a remarkable book of gorgeous photography and brief descriptions of compelling animals divided by continent, each a miracle with astonished characteristics. Imagine choosing 200 from about 1.5 million types!

What a pleasure to learn (more) about the Gharial crocodile with protective "goggles", spectacularly colourful Siamese fighting fish, unique Tomato frog, miniscule Nano chameleon, accurate Archerfish, compact Frogmouth bird, spiny Thorny devil, receptive Star-nosed mole, knotty Rubber boa, flexible pink river dolphin, invasive Death's-head hawkmoth, legless lizard Slow worm, hairy Kiwa hirsuta and venomous Nudibranch. The variety of creatures detailed is amazing.

Strange Animals is unmissable for anyone fascinated with animals and keen to learn more about extraordinary creatures who inhabit our beautiful world. Truly an awe inspiring coffee table book to ogle time and time again.

My sincere thank you to Amber Books Ltd. and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this stupendous book! Anything by Tom Jackson is an automatic must for me.

CALLING ALL ELDER KLRN KIDS! This was such a blast to looks at beautiful animal photos and get to know them a little better with the information the book provides. I especially loved seeing my favorite animals: the okapi, pangolin, tapir, and capybara. I love funky looking mammals. This book was so beautiful.

I enjoy these coffee table type photo books from Amber Books. This one, as the title says, focuses on strange animals. The contents are broken down by continents and includes oceans separately. Animals can include mammals, reptiles, bird and fish. Many of the animals I was familiar with from visits to zoos and aquariums. Personally I was a little disappointed in the animal representation for North America. The focus is on the photos with every animal getting named and a brief tidbit of information. This is something I’d check out from a library to read through but wouldn’t need to personally own. But it may be just the gift for an animal lover.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amber Books for the temporary advance readers copy and I’m leaving a voluntary review.

Oh my gosh the photos in this book are phenomenal.. I was thinking of people who would love this as I read it. This is gold.

Strange animals from around the world. Amazing photos! Beautiful book. My favorite section was oceans.

This is the perfect book for anyone who loves animals and photography. There was just enough written about each animal (approximately 1-3 sentences) and included wonderful, detailed images of each animal. The facts were interesting to read as well as fascinating.

The book was divided into sections depending on the animal's location. And no matter where you are from, you will most likely see animals you never knew anything about as well as some that are very familiar.

Overall, a fun book to read.

Love the art! The photos in this book are so good. So many animals. I didn't find any animals that I wasn't already aware of, but I did learn a lot of interesting facts about them. Excited to see the final product in full size.

4 stars