Search - Jane's Animal Expedition (Baby Einstein)

ISBN 0786808411 - Marked for ages 18 mos. and up, Jane's Animal Expedition isn't just another book that introduces your child to the names of animals. It isn't the lift-able flaps that sets it apart, either. The thing that makes this book different is that it introduces various animals AND their habitats - a small thing, but a nice change.

Jane has great adventures in her plane. She sets out to find elephants today and passes over jungle, desert and other terrain, where she sees a lot of animals - but no elephants! After flying several places, Jane knows where to go, and finds the elephants she's been looking for in the long, brown grass of the savannah. The last two pages reinforce the habitat information the reader has learned and some ideas for expanding the lesson are on the back cover.

There are some small things wrong here. The text, by Julie Aigner-Clark, is rhyming and the cadence of the rhyme is somewhat off. Nadeem Zaidi did an awesome job as illustrator. The images are jump-off-the-page bright, take up every inch of the pages and have some detail without being overwhelming. The pages are standard board book thickness and will stand up to some rough handling, but like all lift-the-flap books, the flaps are weaker and more apt to tear or bend. The educational aspect is a nice addition, not unexpected from Baby Einstein / The Walt Disney Company.

(Because I've read reviews that point out, incorrectly, an "error" in this book, I thought it was worth noting that "FISHES" is a correct plural for fish - look it up [dictionary "fishes", google "plural of fish", wikipedia "English plural"] before you decide that this book isn't for you because it contains something you think is a grammatical error... that happens to NOT BE an error!)

- AnnaLovesBooks

My daughter loved this book. It teaches toddlers/preschoolers about different types of places, e.g. desert, ocean, jungle. It has flaps to lift.

My daughter LOVED this book as a baby. Study flaps with cute animals hiding behind them! Great book!