At this point, you should just assume I’m going to give works by Steve Jenkins (or Steve Jenkins and Robin Page, like this one) positive reviews.
That’s the reality for Look at Me! How to Attract Attention in the Animal World (2018). Once again, Jenkins and Page applied their familiar formula.
They found or identified a unifying theme or element that applies to very different animals. In this case, it was how animals draw attention.
They identified specific approaches different animals used to draw attention, and made sure they found and connected animals from very different parts of the animal kingdom. For example, on one two-page spread, the left page shows the male hooded seal showing off the inflated “sack of skin” that hangs from his noes, while the right page shows a magnificent frigatebird sporting a similar air bladder.
They work through different approaches to getting attention: sacks, plumage, dancing (solo), dancing (paired), warning displays (like raised tails), warning postures or presentations (like a Budgett’s frog inflating its body), color (single, patterned, or suddenly shown), light, poisons, distractions, and placement of real and fake eyes.
They present these methods and the animals employing them in skillful, colorful collages.
And they close with more detailed pages at the end, to sketch in more about each creature.
The result is, as always, striking, educational, and fun.
