I do not think I have seen a book about flamingos that I have ever wanted to read before I found this one. But the cover of Flamingos Are Pretty Funky: A (Not So) Serious Guide by Abi Cushman, with the words Funky and Not So Serious on it, really grabbed my attention. Especially funky. How can flamingos be funky??? They stand there on one leg. They are on the pink and white color spectrum. They eat food that makes them that color. They have babies. They don’t swim, or fly… (me skimming through) Wait… they do fly? And one was clocked doing a 700 mile, non-stop trip? Okay, now I am interested….
What followed a full on reading, were fantastic facts done in an amazingly humorous way that makes me want to know more about flamingos than I have ever wanted to know before! Did you know they stand in toxic waters? TOXIC! Did you know that they live in large groups, but only connect to a few close buddies? And did you know that there are six main types of flamingos? (It’s true! They are not all lawn ornaments looking. That one is the American or Caribbean one. And yes, they could have found a better name for the Lesser Flamingo).
There are great drawn illustrations that are colorful and amusing (follow the snake friend as they learn that floating on toxic water might not be a good idea and mud on pizza has an interesting flavor) that are colorful, supportive and clever. And with the addition of the photographs at the end (which are the perfect touch to show what the different types look like) this is a great book for the animal or nature lover. About ages 5 to 8 or 9, but format does make it more for a younger crowd.
And no wonder this is such an awesome read, this is also the author of Wombats Are Pretty Weird: A (Not So) Serious Guide!
Read via an online reader copy through currently available.