Illuminature: Discover 180 animals with your magic three colour lens

By Author / Illustrator

Carnovsky, Rachel Williams

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Wide Eyed Editions

ISBN

9781847808868

Format

Hardback

Published

06-10-2016

Synopsis

Explore ten of the world's most diverse environments and reveal their hidden secrets with a magic coloured lens that illuminates each page in a kaleidoscope of colour. Discover the dark and mysterious creatures of the night, whose super-sensory powers allow them to live and survive in the shadows, then switch the lens to step into daylight, where the heat of the sun supercharges the secret lives of creatures big and small. Finally, use the third lens to reveal the luscious plant life of every habitat as you travel through a jungle, a reef, grasslands, woodland and uncover a world that never sleeps. This is an animal book like no other, allowing you to view the natural world in full technicolour.
With three layers of artwork to discover hidden within every image, this book can be revisited again and again, providing hours of independent learning and entertainment about the wonders of the natural world.

Reviews

My eight year old and I have poured over these pages, with each new spread bringing different wonders and exploration. In essence, Illuminature presents a variety of landscapes, flora and fauna, ranging from the icy wastes of the Antarctic to the stony heights of the Andes, the depths of Loch Lomond, the wide flat plains of the Serengeti, the East Siberian Taiga, and the Congo Rainforest among others. As well as choosing less well-known landscapes to describe, what makes this book special is how they are presented. A 'magic viewing lens' provided inside the front cover comprises a red, green and blue transparency and the pages are viewed through each of these colours in turn. Under the red, you see the animals; green provides the flora and the blue lens lets you discover the nocturnal animals. This may not be a new idea but the standard of the engraving-style illustrations are superb; our favourites were definitely the landscape and flora elements although what you discover through each of the lenses is superbly presented. Each of the landscape spreads is followed by black and white pages, depicting the animals you've just been introduced to, giving their name and a brief note about them. Older children will enjoy these pages but for younger ones, the magic comes in uncovering the hidden images in the spreads. A lovely book that will inspire individual exploration. There is no index, but then this is a book for browsing. 64 pages / Ages 7+ / Reviewed by Angela Black.