Jennifer Cossins has a true passion for nature. She has a string of successful books already published for kids. These should be in every library and include A-Z of Endangered Animals, 101 Collective Nouns and A Flamboyance of Flamingos. Her new book, Amazing Animal Journeys, is a terrific addition to the Jennifer Cossins shelf.

In this book she follows the migration of animals on our planet. The humpback whale ambles along at only a couple of kilometres an hour when they migrate. But even though they plod along their journey they have one of the longest migrations of any mammal, swimming about 8000 kilometres a year.

But the humpback whale is not the only one undertaking extremely long journeys. The Andean flamingo takes to the air in the evening and can cover as much as 1000 kilometres in a single night. The great snipe is a superstar bird, the fastest bird over long journeys. It covers 6500 kilometres non-stop at speeds of almost 100 kilometres an hour.

This book makes you constantly feel in awe of the instincts animals are born with. The common cuckoo lays its egg in another bird’s nest. Pushing out another egg she can even make to order, to match the existing eggs in the nest, spotty or one colour. When the baby cuckoo hatches, it grows much bigger than the other babies, hogging all the food. Without a parent to teach this baby where to migrate to and when, when grown, the bird will fly from its home in Europe or Asia to Central Africa. This is one of the world’s longest migration routes with one cuckoo, flying from Mongolia, clocking up 12 000 kilometres to finally rest in Central Africa.

From caribou, fruit bats, dragonflies, crabs, zebras, to the bar-tailed godwit, it is a fascinating learning experience on every page for young minds.

Reviewed by Jane Stephens