Review: Beastly Puzzles by Rachel Poliquin

Beastly Puzzles: A Brain-Boggling Animal Guessing Game
by Rachel Poliquin; illustrated by Byrom Eggenschwiler


Available as: hardcover, ebook
Pages: 32
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication date: May 7, 2019
Suggested tags: picture book, nonfiction, animals



From Goodreads:

"This book asks children: If you're given a list of features and characteristics, can you guess which animal they make? This might seem easy enough. But solving the puzzles in this book is deviously, outrageously, almost impossibly tricky! Though the thirteen animals included are easily recognizable --- such as polar bear, snail, ostrich, pufferfish --- the clues are unexpected. For example: "3 billiard balls," "dinosaur feet" and "five feather dusters." And to further complicate matters, the clues are presented in scenarios unrelated to the animals --- the ostrich is composed of items in a "gentlemen's den" and the pufferfish clues are items in a spy submarine. Once readers make a guess (or if they get stumped!), they can open the gatefold to reveal the animal, with each clue explained and lots of additional fascinating facts.

Author Rachel Poliquin's concept for this intriguing, one-of-a-kind book is a spin on early natural histories, which introduced new animals by describing them as a hodgepodge of parts taken from familiar creatures. A beaver, for example, was described as being composed of a flounder, an otter, goose feet, squirrel paws and a rabbit's front teeth. The back matter includes a note explaining this, accompanied by visual references. Artfully and intricately illustrated by Byron Eggenschwiler, this innovative book offers an engaging mix of art and information that's sure to pique readers' curiosity. It works perfectly to enhance a broad range of life sciences curriculum topics, including animal adaptations, characteristics, evolution, ecology, habitats, ecosystems, biodiversity and food webs. The guessing-game format encourages inquiry-based learning --- and plenty of fun! "

This wonderfully illustrated picture book in the form of an animal guessing game is page after page of mind-bending fun! I thought I'd have no problem guessing the animal from some clues in a kid's book but NOPE - these are a real challenge! You need to think hard about the clues and try to envision what they're telling you... and it's not easy when your clues are everyday objects from a variety of settings, like snowshoes from a fishing cabin, or a flashlight from a kid's bedroom. It was a blast to search through the amazing illustrations to find all the clues, use the hint to try to figure it out, and then unfold the page to see if my guess was right. Some I could get, but some I was totally stumped! I even pulled my family members in on it to see if we could figure it out together. This is such a fun book that could easily entertain a family or a group of kids from page to page. And I LOVE the fact that this is based off how animals were described in early natural histories! Great idea, amazing execution. 

Final verdict: I loved it! I thought this book was great! I might buy it for myself and I would definitely recommend it to others.

{ Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.
My reviews are honest and my opinions are my own; 

your reading experience may vary, so give it a read and see what you think. :) }