Pink Is For Blobfish: Discovering the World's Perfectly Pink Animals

by Jess Keating

Overview

It's Pinkalicious meets Fear Factor in this nonfiction picture book introducing the weirdest, wildest, pinkest critters in the animal kingdom!

Some people think pink is a pretty color. A fluffy, sparkly, princess-y color. But it's so much more.
Sure, pink is the color of princesses and bubblegum, but it's also the color of monster slugs and poisonous insects. Not to mention ultra-intelligent dolphins, naked mole rats and bizarre, bloated blobfish.

Isn't it about time to rethink pink?

Slip on your rose-colored glasses and take a walk on the wild side with zoologist Jess Keating, whose other books in the World of Weird Animals series include What Makes a Monster? and Cute as an Axolotl.

A New York Public Library Best Book for Kids, 2016

"The 2016 Ambassador to Young People’s Science and Nature books is unquestionably the blobfish." —Shelftalker

"Readers will never look at pink the same way." —Publishers Weekly

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781984893963
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	07/23/2019
Series:	World of Weird Animals Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	427,045
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jess Keating is a zoologist-turned-author who writes with the sort of wisdom you can only get from multiple crocodile bites and skunk sprays. Jess has been making up stories for as long as she can remember, and at the age of eight, she even started a library in her room (mainly so she could charge her brother late fees). In addition to nonfiction, she writes middle-grade novels, including the Kirkus-starred How to Outrun a Crocodile When Your Shoes Are Untied.

Jess lives with her husband in Ontario, Canada, where she is hard at work on her next book in the World of Weird Animals series. Hint: There will be bloodsuckers!

Editorial Reviews

"The 2016 Ambassador to Young People’s Science and Nature books is unquestionably the blobfish." —Shelftalker

"The comical tone makes this particularly inviting, and DeGrand’s cartoonish illustrations only add to the fun. A playful introduction to the kookier corners of the animal kingdom." —Booklist

"Readers will never look at pink the same way.... Keating maintains a casual tone while delivering intriguing details about each animal." —Publishers Weekly

"Bratz, Monster High, and their ilk have recently demonstrated that how much attitude pink can pack, but Nature has been onto this fact for quite a while. Keating rattles off seventeen creatures from land, sea, and air whose coloration punches a hole in pink’s girly-girl image." —The Bulletin

"Pink is for bubble gum and ballet slippers, sure, but it's also for blobfish, pinktoe tarantulas, pygmy seahorses, Amazon river dolphins [etc.] . . . A map and glossary are the pink icing on the pink cake. It's clearly time to rethink pink, people." —Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

11/16/2015
Pink is so much more than cupcakes and princesses—some of the most unusual animals on the planet boast rosy hues. Using a playful “pink is for” refrain, Keating (the My Life Is a Zoo series) opens her World of Weird Animals series by familiarizing readers with such creatures as the pink fairy armadillo, pygmy seahorse, Amazon river dolphin, and naked mole rat. Crisp photography combines with DeGrand’s goofy cartoon interpretations of each animal. Keating maintains a casual tone while delivering intriguing details about each animal; sidebars chart key statistics, including size, predators, and diet. Readers will never look at pink the same way. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Kathleen Rushall, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

12/01/2015
Gr 1–4—Keating explores 17 animals, including amphibians, insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals from around the world—all of them pink. The cover alone, which depicts a glossy pink blobfish against a matte black background, will attract plenty of attention, and the subject matter will hold it. The first page, with text in neon pink letters against a black background, teases, "Think you know pink? Think again." Among the animals covered are the naked mole rat, the pinktoe tarantula, and the roseate spoonbill. On each spread, Keating introduces a different strange and fascinating creature; included are a full-body photo, a funny cartoon illustration, a brief paragraph of information, a listing of basic facts, and a high-interest inset, all contrasted against a variety of vibrant backgrounds. A range map is included on the final spread. VERDICT A popular addition for larger collections or those in need of materials on nontypical animals.—Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI

School Library Journal

2015-11-03
Seventeen of the world's oddest creatures share a single characteristic: their pink coloration. For the opening title in her new series, Keating features weird and wonderful animals ranging from a deep-sea fish made of "gelatinous goo" to a tiny barrel-sponge occupant called a hairy squat lobster. In between, there are relatively familiar species such as hippopotamuses, roseate spoonbills, and Amazon river dolphins and more exotic ones such as the orchid mantis, pink fairy armadillo, and southern blind snake. Each double-page spread introduces a single animal with a photograph on the left and information on the facing page. A paragraph of description is followed by another about some intriguing aspect—perhaps the animal's aposematic coloration that warns predators off or its hermaphroditic habits. This second paragraph is illustrated with a cartoon and set off with a blobby design feature that repeats in the colorful page backgrounds. Sidebars offer fast facts including name, Latin name, size, diet, habitat, and predators and threats. These texts will challenge the intended audience. They're full of interesting but likely unfamiliar terms: carrion, deforestation, eusocial, negative phototaxis. These are printed in boldface in the text and defined in context and in a glossary. There are helpful suggestions for further research. Habitat ranges on an unlabeled world map are keyed to an alphabetical list of the animals, but there's no index. An intriguing approach for animal-fact enthusiasts. (Informational picture book. 7-11)

Kirkus Reviews