Book Title: Wild Cities (available here)
Author: Ben Lerwill
Illustrator: Harriet Hobday
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: September 2020
Most Suitable For: KS2
Reviewed By: Marion Park
This visually stunning non-fiction book explores the diverse range of wildlife that lives in cities across the world and details how they manage to survive in our modern world. Cities included are London, Tokyo, Berlin, Sydney, Warsaw, Cape Town, New York, Singapore, Paris, Beijing, Chicago, Mumbai, Seoul and Calgary.
Each section of the book is beautifully illustrated across several pages – giving the reader a real sense of place – with annotated, lifelike drawings of the animals that bring it to life. The colours are vibrant and the reader can see that the cities are very different depending on their location, history and climate. The language used is informative without being particularly difficult to read, with the names of animals appearing in bold. Each city’s pages include facts about the city’s history, some description of the cityscape and lots of information about the different types of wildlife that can be found there – some are quite unexpected. There is something to interest everyone.
There is an important message at the end of the book that encourages the reader to think about what they could do in their own environments to protect wildlife. We are reminded of the need to slow down, take in our surroundings and understand and respect the creatures that live alongside us – whatever they may be!
This informative and thought-provoking book is ideal to use in a KS2 classroom as there are links with Science, Geography and English. It would be an excellent addition to a class library.
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You can order Wild Cities online or from an independent bookshop.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to our Review Panel member for reviewing it.
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