Customer Rating: 
Summary: Delightful!
Comment: I found this book mis-shelved in a library when I was a senior in high school. I was interested by the illustration on the cover and ended up spending over an hour looking at the book. I ended up receiving a copy a a gift a few years later when I showed the book to someone in a bookstore. It's delightfully detailed, and it's easy to spend ages looking at each individual page. I love how the different letters have completely different scenes and different 'feels' to them. I especially like the L page with the lazy lions lounging in the local library, and I love the titles of the books they're reading (Let's Learn Latin! HA!) I'd recommend this book to anybody - big or little - who has an imagination and enjoys lovely illustrations (not to mention a good giggle).
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautifully illustrated and still amazes me 25 yrs later!
Comment: 1986 my mom bought me a book that I studied endlessly, that peaked my imagination and sparked my artistic/creative side. Animalia was such a wonder to me...I could spend hours finding everything on every page then start all over again. I still own the same (first ed) copy and won't let me kids touch it...I will have to buy an extra from here I suppose because it is definately something I want my children to enjoy.
I really think this was the book that made me want to draw.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not For Kids
Comment: As a teacher, I find this book to be horrible for children. I agree with others who have commented about the violence, disturbing images, and the "darkness" within this book. I would not use it for my own young children and am taking it out of my 7th grade classroom.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Mother of all Alphabet Books
Comment: I think this has to be one of the more perfect alphabet books out there. It still follows the traditional alphabet book style, with the cute drawings for every letter of the alphabet. And yet... Base brings this to an entirely different level. The alphabetic phrases are clever and full of impressive vocabularly, and the illustrations are simply works of art.I can't wait to read this to my first graders!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Seek and Find, I Spy, Animals, Outstanding Illustrations all rolled up into one!
Comment: This was our first Graeme Base book, and I thought it was wonderful -- until I discovered some of his other books. I bought it because my 4-year old is really into animals. He also likes the Osborne seek and find books, and Animalia is a combination of both. The details in the illustrations are truly outstanding. Sadly, my son didn't like it as much as I did, but you know how children are. I'm sure when I reintroduce the book in a few months he will appreciate it much more. He's just learning to read, so the details in teaching the alphabet are just now starting to become clear. Everytime I look at this book I discover some more detail on each page. The author must have spent a great deal of time creating this masterpiece. And you cannot go wrong with a Graeme Base book. Definitely my favorite children's author.
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