A Gaggle of Geese and a Clutter of Cats (Dandilion Rhymes) - Hardcover

Dandi Daley Mackall has published nearly 400 books for children and adults, with more than 3 million copies sold. A frequent guest on radio talk shows, Mackall has hosted more than 200 radio phone-in programs and made dozens of appearances on network television. A popular keynote speaker at conferences and Young Author events, Mackall lives in rural Ohio with her husband, three children, and a menagerie of animals.

Illustrator bio:
David Hohn is an award-winning illustrator who graduated with honors from the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has worked as both a staff artist and an art director for a children’s software company in Portland, Oregon, a position which culminated in his art direction of an award-winning project for Fisher-Price. Hohn’s recent projects include Lisa Tawn Bergren’s God Gave Us Christmas.

Animals scamper all over the globe in this guide to the names of animal groups. There’s a vaguely religious overtone to the beginning of the book (When God made the world, / he formed all kinds of creatures, / fashioned in families / of similar features), and the last page features the passage from Genesis about God’s creation of animals. The text in between is straightforward and lively, with catchy rhymes and vivid illustrations. Hohn’s pictures are ridiculous (in a good way), making the most of puns (a sleuth of bears in trench coats searches for clues at a campsite). His beast-characters are also very expressive—the leap of leopards jumping from an airplane is a bunch of cool daredevils. The only disappointment: not all the animal groups are illustrated. When two are mentioned on a page, only one may be pictured. Even so, consider this book strong enough that its images and words will fire a child’s imagination. Preschool-Grade 2. --Abby Nolan