A wonderful book. The endpapers are fascinating and lure in the reader. At the start the book introduces us to natural selection, convergent and divergent evolution, symbiosis, colonial organisms, mimicry and camouflage. The symbols used are explained and there follows a series of double page spreads that introduce the reader to 100 iconic life forms. Some are familiar such as the pliosaur, the mosquito, the cassowary and the cuttlefish. Others were new to me like the sarcastic fringehead, the pakicetus, the manchineel tree and the tasselled wobbegong. I found the book enthralling. Some of the creatures are mind-blowing.
The language is colloquial and inviting. “Picture a bird, taller than the tallest person you know, that could run almost as fast as a cheetah. Its huge, deadly beak made it among the most feared predators in its environment. It deserved its name .” Terror bird
I like the information highlighted in coloured boxes such as “The last Dimetrodon died out around 40 million years before the first dinosaurs appeared on our planet.” and “the dung produced by one elephant in one day can support a whopping two million dung beetles.” The information is age appropriate and complex names are made more accessible by the pronunciation guide. The use of symbols works well to convey key information easily.
There are plenty of amazing facts. I did not know that the Titanoboa had a body as thick as a human waist, or that mantis shrimps have different types of limbs. “Most are either smashers, which are used like clubs to punch their prey, or spearers, which have spines running along them.” The artwork is superb. and throughout the book text and illustration are well-matched. The backgrounds are well chosen like the use of maps and the tables that show where in the world the life forms exist(ed). There is a clear Glossary and the Acknowledgements section includes a generous tribute to the team who collaborated to produce this truly astonishing book that introduces – amazing mind-blowing life forms.
Brenda Marshall
Zombie Worms and Blue Dragons by Ben Garrod
Illustrated by Emily Higgs
Zephyr
ISBN 9781035917235
£16.99
Published 2026
