Babies of the Great Bear Rainforest

Ian McAllister’s breathtaking wildlife photography shines in this unique board book depicting the Great Bear Rainforest located in Canada’s own backyard. The photography throughout provides an almost real-life experience with the animals. As soon as the reader opens this selection, an Orca calf stretches across both pages greeting them with beautiful elegance. The photography does not span across every page, but remains just as captivating. On most pages, the opposite page showcases inviting, colourful text stating the animal’s name. The names are surrounded by graphic details, such as bubbles, footprints and starfish floating across the page. Many of the animals are unusual in the sense that infants would not generally see them within most other books. These include animals such as a Glaucous-Winged Gull Chick, Baby Humboldt Squid and Pacific Herring Eggs.

Babies of the Great Bear Rainforest, a fantastic informational read, teaches “baby” names of each of the animals. Infants could have heard the term “cub” for a baby bear within other texts, but they may not have been exposed to baby seals named “pups”, baby orcas named “calves”, or baby eagles named, “eaglets”. Hearing these rare terms within the text is fantastic for an infant’s budding vocabulary. The final page of the board book showcases a photo of a Grizzly Bear Cub and includes a paragraph of information about British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest. The page also has a link to find additional information and more of Ian McAllister’s photography. Celebrating twenty-five percent of the world’s remaining ancient coastal rainforest, Babies of the Great Bear Rainforest is a perfect addition to an infant’s story time.