Book Review: Hidden Animal Colors by Jane Park

Hidden Animal Colors by Jane Park is nonfiction picturebook. Why should the bright and flashy animals get all of the attention? If you look closely at some seemingly ordinary animals, you may find a colorful surprise. A lizard is brown. A hippo is gray. But wait! The lizard has a blue tongue to scare predators, and the hippo has pink "sweat" that protects it from the sun! Brilliant photos accompany author Jane Park's rhyming nonfiction text in this playful exploration of animals' hidden colors.

Hidden Animal Colors is a great book for reading alone or together. The page design with photographs of animals and text placement worked very well to capture and keep the attention of readers of all ages. I loved the idea of showing young readers that even the most ordinary creatures could be hiding some interesting features, and that even the less exciting feature do have a purpose that can help animals survive and thrive in the wild. This is a great book for all readers, even if they just want to look at some great pictures and enjoy the book on that level alone.