Here's a fantastic book that serves rather a brilliant dual purpose - both as an informative non-fiction book showing how we share our immediate world with some of the most amazing animals on the planet, and also how you can develop a love for language through the use of various different types of poetry.

In "Wild in the Streets: 20 Poems of City Animals" by Marilyn Singer and Gordy Wright, prepare to meet some truly amazing animals who have taken back their territories from humankind - explored in a lyrical, playful and wholly absorbing way through verse.

This beautifully illustrated book pairs poetry with nonfiction, telling the fascinating stories of these animal species, from the pythons traveling Singapore's sewers to the monkeys living in India's temples and cities, running cheeky raids on market stalls and homes when owners forget to secure their goodies. 

Oh we're complete and utter suckers for books like this, and so this week's second book of the week is none other than "Strange but True: 10 of the World's Greatest Mysteries Explained" by Kathryn Hulick and Gordy Wright.

Mostly through my influence, C has latched on to books about the unexplained, strange phenomena, ghosts, UFOs, bigfoot and the like.

It used to be difficult to source books for kids on these weird and 'out there' subjects, but it's got a lot better in recent years, with publishers swiftly realising theres gold in them thar unexplained hills after all.

This book is superb, going into fine detail about a huge and diverse range of subjects from alien abductions, strange disappearances, zombies, monsters of the deep and of course what book about mysteries would be complete without a Sasquatch or two.



Using real-life accounts, brilliantly detailed illustrations (no grisly photos though, boo hiss! Most kids books seem to miss out on the photos these days) and a thoroughly researched scientific attempt to explain each case, this is scintillating reading and the perfect entry point if you've been struggling to find kid-friendly books that aren't too gruesome, grisly or disturbing but cover the world's greatest weird phenomena.



Sum this book up in a sentence: Truly mind blowing mysteries ready to be cogitated over in this fab book for kids.

"Strange but True" by Kathryn Hulick and Gordy Wright is out now, published by Frances Lincoln Children's Books (kindly supplied for review).