Song of the Wild: A First Book of Animals

Davies and Horacek offer a striking poetic and visual tribute to the animal world. Grouped into thematic chapters that include “Big and Small,” “Colors and Shapes,” and “Animal Homes,” Davies’s pithy, playful poems skillfully impart details about the various creatures (“From a swollen, pregnant pouch,/ small fishy sea foals squiggle out./ They’ve grown from eggs inside the tummy/ of their daddy, not their mommy”). Horacek’s sweeping, layered collages vary in form, composition, and medium: shards of painted paper (“a fresh green ribbon/ torn from a blade of elephant grass”) help form a weaverbird’s nest, while elsewhere a tiger’s stripes fade into jungle. Ages 3–7. Author’s agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates. (Oct.)