Just check out our book reviews. It’s clear we’ve always been big fans of DK Books. They publish the best reference books for kids around, and when it comes to their Smithsonian books, their nature photography is second to none. DK books bring the awe-inspiring wonders of nature into your home and on to your coffee table. Here are three of DK’s finest nature books that I think would be fabulous choices for gift giving this Christmas!
An Anthology of Intriguing Animals
As soon as I picked up An Anthology of Intriguing Animals, I was most definitely – ahem – intrigued. Reminiscent of medieval bestiaries with gilded pages and a ribbon bookmark, this children’s animal encyclopedia is truly a beautiful book. But you can’t judge a book by its cover, right? So what’s inside?
This volume features 104 animals from the massive baleen whale down to the tiny ant. Subjects include the usual fare like sheep, raccoons, polar bears, and penguins, and also some more unusual animals like cute quokkas, fluffy viscachas, axolotls, scaly pangolins, seadragons, and worm-like caecilians.
Each two-page spread features a single animal with both an illustration and a large full-colour photo of the animal in question, a brief write-up, and an intriguing fact. This book makes learning fun!
“An emperor penguin can dive more than 1,640 ft (500 m) deep and hold its breath for twenty minutes.”
“Most geckos don’t have eyelids. They lick their huge eyes to keep them clean and wet.”
“Glasswing butterflies have see-through wings. If one landed here, you could read this text right through it!”
At the back of the book, a fanciful tree of life shows how animal groups are connected to each other, and the illustrated index contains reference information about each species including its scientific name, size, and location. This beautiful book would make a lovely gift for any child who can’t get enough of wildlife and nature.
Our small planet is blessed with stunning landscapes and unique geological features, and this Smithsonian volume, Natural Wonders of the World, provides a detailed survey of some of the fascinating geology, biomes, and natural wonders found on each continent.
Explore the wonders of the world through eye-popping photographs and accessible text. Learn about the wonders of our planet from the snow-capped Andes mountains to the depths of the Mariana Trench, from the arid Atacama Desert that can go years without a drop of rainfall to Victoria Falls, the largest sheet of falling water in the world. Get a glimpse of the tectonic movement and magma underlying the Hawaiian Islands or the geothermal hotbed of Rotorua in New Zealand.
The chapters are organized by continent along with two final chapters focused on the oceans and extreme weather. At the back of the book, there’s a directory of the most significant geological features – mountains and volcanoes, glaciers and ice sheets, rivers and lakes, forests, deserts, and coasts, islands, and reefs – also organized by continent. Even more back matter includes an extensive illustrated glossary of terms and an index of all the locations mentioned in this magnificent coffee table book.
Natural History: The Ultimate Guide to Everything on Earth
I’m pretty sure this ambitious hardcover volume from DK Smithsonian is the heaviest book in my house with 648 pages and over 5000 full-colour photographs and close-ups. Leafing through page after page of this spectacular survey of life on Earth is truly a visual delight!
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Natural History starts with a general introduction to life on Earth covering the geological foundations of life, the evolution of life forms, and an overview of how organisms are classified. The next five chapters form a visual survey of thousands of species and specimens of minerals, rocks, and fossils, microscopic life, plants, fungi, and animals.
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The most extensive chapter by far is the section on animals, taking up almost two thirds of this volume with sections examining invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Each section starts with an outline of the class’ general characteristics, then drills down to explore more of the incredible variation in each phylum and class. You won’t find a lot of information about each individual species though; this is purely a surface-level survey of the immense variety of life on this planet.
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This is one of my favourite books from DK. The scope of this volume and the spectacular photography are simply awe-inspiring. Anyone who loves nature and wildlife will be thrilled to find this under the tree!
Win Gift-Worthy Books from DK Books
One of my readers will win two of these gorgeous books from DK Books – one for you and one for the kids! Enter in the giveaway widget below to win An Anthology of Intriguing Animals and Natural History: The Ultimate Guide to Everything on Earth. This giveaway is open to residents of Canada, 18+. All the winner’s entries will be verified. Prize delivery is not guaranteed by Christmas, so please plan accordingly.
Click here to check out my other open giveaways and be sure to follow me on Facebook!
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I would love Peek & Seek for my grandson!
I would like The Birds of Canada Book.
Wow,DK Celebrates Nature Boutique certainly has a nice selection of books one I’d like to give as a gift is The Three Little Pigs.
I would choose The Incredible Fold-Out Book of Animals for my granddaughter.
I would love to gift my nephews the The Incredible Fold-Out Book of Animals
All the books are gorgeous but I would love the Children’s Illustrated Animal Atlas.
How We’re F***ing Up Our Planet sounds like a good read.
My granddaughter would love The Incredible Fold-Out Book of Animals and I would like the Complete Atlas of the World, 3rd Edition.
I would love the Birds of Canada 2nd Edition book for my niece who loves birds.
The book “Flora” would be quite interesting
Birds of Canada 2nd Edition would make a nice gift for my husband!
Animal: The definitive visual guide would be such a wonderful book to own and share!
I would love any of the STEM Lab books to gift to my daughter for christmas. she has a little friend in home learners that she just loves doing science experiments with when she visits his house!
I would like my children to have Peek and Sneak.
Birds of Canada is a book I would also enjoy reading.
I would love the How We’re F***ing Up Our Planet for myself!
Complete Wellness would be a book that I would like to read.
My kids would LOVE the fold out animals book, also the animal atlas would be well loved at our house.
I would get The Birds of Canada Book.
The Essential Oils book looks interesting. I’m interested in learning more about them.
I would love to give An Anthology of Intriguing Animals to my granddaughter who loves unusual life.
I would love the Essential Oils book for myself! I’ve been wanting to use them but don’t really know how to use them safely around children.
“Animal” (with the Penguin on the Front)
My son loves Penguins.
I would love to give my godson the Natural History volume. He is very curious and always picking up bugs,rocks and flowers.
This would be a great educational resource for him.
Nature’s Deadliest Creatures Visual Encyclopedia looks great, would like that one!
I’d like to gift this book to my little one Birds of Canada 2nd Edition Published by DK
I would love to be able to give The Incredible Fold-Out Book of Animals to my grandchildren. It looks like a lot of fun.
I love the book Flora – that would make a fab gift for my parents!
Natures Deadliest Creatures is a book that is perfect for my grandsons ages 10 and 12 years old.
The Birds of Canada Book would be great because my son is always asking me about birds and I have no idea which are which
I would love “Natural History”!
Flora and How We’Re F***ing up our Planet both stand out to me. Thanks!
What age range do you recommend for owners of world, mysteries of universe and intriguing animals