View source for Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown

{{infobox
|title=Lesser Spotted Animals
|author=Martin Brown
|reviewer= Louise Jones
|genre=Confident Readers
|summary= It's time for the more obscure residents of the animal kingdom to have their chance to shine. Meet the Gaur, Sand Cat, Langur and many more in this fascinating book.
|rating=5
|buy=yes
|borrow=yes
|pages=60
|publisher=David Fickling Books
|date=October 2016
|isbn=9781910200537
|website=
|video=
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1910200530</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>1910200530</amazonus>
}}

There may be as many as 5,500 different species of mammal on our planet, but how many of those do we actually get to see and read about? 'Animal Books' are packed with cute pictures of tigers, elephants, monkeys and zebras, but what about their lesser-known neglected cousins? Don't they deserve a minute in the spotlight? Numbat, Solenodon, Zorilla, Onager and Linsang: Now is your time to shine!

Martin Brown, the talented illustrator of the popular [[Deadly Days in History (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary and Martin Brown|Horrible Histories]] series is the perfect choice for this book about the ''Brilliant beasts you never knew you needed to know about.'' The delightful and colourful cartoon drawings are a great way to introduce us to the more obscure residents of the animal kingdom. Brown's particular forte is the expressive eyes of his subjects, reflecting a spectrum of emotions including disgust, fear, aloofness, craftiness and delight.

The humour in the book is spot-on, especially the little speech bubbles coming from the mouths of the animals. At the beginning of the book, the author declares that all 'popular' animals are banned, with a disgruntled gorilla declaring that ''I never wanted to be in this crummy book in the first place.''

As well as the great humour and beautiful illustrations, there is a surprising amount of high-quality factual information about the animals too. We learn about where they come from, what they eat and how endangered they are. Some, like the Hirola antelope, are critically endangered, so the book provides a good platform for parents to discuss with children issues such as habitat loss, hunting and disease.

''Lesser Spotted Animals'' is a charming book and would make the perfect gift for any child interested in the natural world. There are plenty more animals out there, so I'm hoping that the author will decide that there are enough obscure mammals out there to make a series.

If you enjoyed this book and would love to see more of Martin Brown's fantastic illustrations, we recommend [[Big Fat Christmas Book (Horrible Histories) by Terry Deary and Martin Brown]].

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[[Category: Children's Non-Fiction]]