Wild About Capybaras! What the heck is a capybara? Do capybaras, sloths and quokkas belong to a slow-moving club that secretly meets south of the Equator? Is it really possible to Giggle and Learn? Giggle and Learn Series are Toon Books by Kevin McCloskey that are smarter than they look and more fun than they seem. Wild About Capybaras! is a fun book to read, which raises the question, can early-elementary ages really have fun reading? So many questions, let’s unpack them. However, in case you’ve got to split, the answer is “yes”.
Young readers will be asking parents for a capybara as a pet to which they’ll certainly receive a negative answer. Slightly bummed out, those kids will lose themselves in the long-snouted creature that kind of resembles a beagle mixed with an impossibly friendly camel.
The first thing audiences will notice about Wild About Capybaras! is that it treats its young audience with respect. It’s not presented at a baby level, yet it’s cute enough for a baby to enjoy. The illustrations are more realistic than audiences are expecting. Ages five through seven are used to rounded illustrations without realistic angles. The capybaras in Wild About Capybaras! won’t be mistaken for photographs, but they look more personable. It’s as if the two capybaras on the cover know something. A secret that they’re not sharing now, but will maybe share a little bit, if young audiences open it.
That last part won’t be an issue. The Giggle and Learn logo, the realistic flora and fauna on the cute animal’s back and more make readers want to open the book. Really, this is one of the more fun books that manage to get kids to want to read it that we’ve seen in a while. The fact that it does it from a STEM perspective while punching above its weight is even more surprising and deserves to be rewarded.
When you open Wild About Capybaras! there are two illustrated kids talking about how awesome the animal is. One of them accuses capybaras of being a fad, which leads them to discuss what exactly makes up a temporarily trendy thing. This shows a narwhal, axolotl, llama and a shark who is somewhat bragging about getting an entire week. Wait, so the book is funny, educational, has great illustrations and is meta to boot?
The one kid, who really loves capybaras, is sticking to his guns about the animal not being trendy. They talk about the viral capybara videos that kids have seen online. The pragmatic kid points out that the animals have sharp teeth and can be territorial. They have 14 toes, four on their front feet and three on their back two feet. They eat up to eight pounds of fruits and vegetables a day.
Wild About Capybaras! got the universal, entertaining, elementary school playbook and they’re running it, step by step. There’s a loose narrative that centers on two elementary students. They discover facts about the animals that are set against funny illustrations.
On one page, we read that areas of South America eat capybaras. Earlier in the book, audiences would’ve learned that capybaras are vegetarians. The illustration on this page shows two capybaras sneaking into town. The larger one has one of its front legs holding back the smaller, younger one as its commenting that it doesn’t seem fair since they don’t eat meat. The side eye of the larger animal, combined with its leg and the capybara empanada stand is funny. It’s a smarter instance of humor that young audiences don’t see much of. Young audiences might not get that humor on the first reading, but after they spend some time with the book they’ll discover it. As the book ends one of the kids is celebrating their birthday with all manner of capybara party favors and is planning a family trip to South America to see them in the wild.
Wild About Capybaras! doesn’t look like much. It’s a small book that’s kind of skinny and rectangular shaped. This is a book that kids won’t expect to enjoy, but will absolutely love if they give it a chance. There is a lot of humor and education in it. It’s also very self-aware and tells a narrative story. Are all of the books in the Giggle and Learn series this fabulous? It’s gateway entertainment stuff with a side-helping of STEM that will encourage readers to dig into the other books into the series to confirm they’re as awesome as this one.
Wild About Capybaras! is in the Giggle and Learn series, A Toon Book by Kevin McCloskey and is available on TOON Books, an imprint of Astra Books for Young Readers, a division of Astra Publishing House.
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