A strong, fresh selection of poetry from various cultures is unified by the vigorous, boldly colored creatures which are the subject of this visual celebration. Over five dozen brief poems by haiku poets, Emily Dickinson, D. H. Lawrence, Ogden Nash, Edward Lear, Rudyard Kipling, Laura Richards, Mary Jane Hoberman, Karla Kuskin and others are indexed by their first lines at the back. The 74 animals cited are arranged in an alphabetical index. (Ages 3-9)

From leaping, flying fish to dancing butterflies, and camels that "trollop along," Eric Carle's brilliant and colorful collage designs bring to life animal poems from such diverse sources as Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Rudyard Kipling, Emily Dickinson, and Jack Prelutsky, as well as Bible verses, Japanese haiku, American Indian poems and more. This celebration of the wonder and variety of earth's animals is "joyous...a book to be shared" (Booklist, starred review).