Size Wise: From Colossal Squids to Snowflakes, a Life-Sized Look at Nature by Camilla de la Bedoyere, illustrated by Vasilisa Romanenko

Size Wise: From Colossal Squids to Snowflakes, a Life-Sized Look at Nature by Camilla de la Bedoyere,  illustrated by Vasilisa Romanenko. Buster Books, 2023. 9781780558240

Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 3.5

Format: Hardcover picture book

What did you like about the book?  Things that are big versus things that are small is a perennially favorite organizing principle for science picture books. Here we’re looking at plants, animals, and even nonliving things like sand and snowflakes and marveling at their relative sizes. An introductory essay instructs readers about how to “read” the images, looking for a small magnifying glass that indicates whether we are zoomed in or out on each subject. Vibrant digital illustrations guide readers as they marvel at the enormous Eurasian eagle owl then get to peer intently at micro frogs from Central and South America. Occasionally, we get a heads up that the next page will show an object at its actual size, for example, two enormous black gorilla hands resting comfortably against its chest or the capybara’s giant furry and whiskery snout. Information is conveyed for each themed, double-page spread through an opening paragraph with additional details on individual species (say, fungi or rainbow diatoms), presented alongside smaller inset images.  Back matter includes a glossary and a table with information about measurements.

Anything you didn’t like about it? The arrangement of information was quite scattershot, with no discernable logic. The toucan is followed by snowflakes, tiny jellyfish lead to hummingbirds. Unfortunately, no information is provided about the author or the illustrator, making it impossible to establish their authority.

To whom would you recommend this book?  With its vibrantly hued illustrations and aha page turns (not for the squeamish who might balk at the life-sized Goliath bird-eating spider or the giant Gaboon viper) this will be popular with the picture book crowd. Adult support will be needed to read and explain the informational text.

Who should buy this book? Public libraries

Where would you shelve it? 508

Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No

Reviewer: Susan Harari, Keefe Library, Boston Latin School, Boston, MA

Date of review: May 17, 2024