The poetry here is more musing and thoughtful than in those other compilations, with verse forms ranging from free verse to haiku to various metered rhymes. The book shines with the wonderful generosity of excess, containing a richness that has the patience to be savored slowly over several browsings and readings. This collection would be at least enticing no matter what the setting, but the visuals here enhance the words' poetry with their own. Some of her animal figures evince an impressionistic, intensely colored speed reminiscent of early Brian Wildsmith, while other scenes offer a lightness and flu idity resembling the art of Lisbeth Zwerger. It's not just that the pictures are beautiful, it's also that the book is beautifully designed.
Bats swoop across the spread in smoky gray shadows as text appears in a beam of white light.
Schools of iridescent fish swim through the briny verses and circle the section title. Even the cover under the book jacket is filled with the creatures of air, water, and land, offering rows of tiny thumbnail images of the beasts within. The overall feeling is that of a world bursting with poetry and creatures, the inhabitants of a literarily inclined ark streaming out of confinement. The result is a dramatic, playful, and eminently browsable volume that makes the animal kingdom seem a royal one indeed. An in dex of authors and titles is included.