URBAN ANIMALS

Photographer Hill takes readers on an engaging tour of New York City’s architectural animals, from a handsome snake twining around some brickwork on the side of a building to an alligator beginning a climb up a small skyscraper. The design presents one animal per opening, a photograph of the critter in situ on verso and a close-up detail on recto. A rhyming couplet introduces both animal and the architectural feature it decorates. It’s not a seek-and-find—each couplet is introduced by a goofy iconic rendering of the animal—but rather a primer on architectural terms and an invitation to look closely at the urban environment. In the former aim, it is only partially successful, as some terms are imperfectly illustrated (the closing glossary helps to mitigate this flaw). In its second aim, however, it hits the bull’s-eye; readers will find the floppy-eared dog peering out from a Corinthian column and the elephants holding up flagpoles with their trunks irresistible, and they’ll want to go out immediately on animal quests of their own. (guide to buildings shown) (Informational picture book. 4-8)