Jungle Jack Hanna

The Wackiest, Wildest, Weirdest Animals in the World  

Hardcover w/DVD -- ISBNs: 1400311403 / 9781400311408 

If you say “Jack Hanna”, your friends automatically think of animals. When I saw the previews for this book, I just had to have it. The fact that it was a book and a DVD? I couldn't wait to hit the “send it to me” button.

Once I received the package, both the book and the DVD stood up to my expectations. The book was great. Thirty two pages of knowledge about some very unique animals, with some really great full color pictures of each animal. There is one large picture and one to three smaller pictures of each animal on its page.

I love the caption “What Makes Them Wacky” for each animal, since it shows how unique the animal truly is. It provides good basic knowledge about the animal, as well as some in-depth knowledge about it. The information is interesting and informative without being so scholarly or technical that it is difficult to understand. The glossary at the end of the book makes it easy for children to find out what some of the words that they're not likely to know actually mean, and makes the book much more educational, as well as entertaining.

The only problem that I had was with the DVD case. It's attached to the inside of the front cover, and it's so small and tight that you end up ripping the DVD, case and all, out of the book, and the little DVD holder falls apart. It didn't damage the book or the DVD, but it's much easier to lose the DVD when it's floating around loose and is no longer attached to the book. The content of the DVD seemed to be dated, because it was compiled from years of shows, but if you like the show and are interested in its history and the bloopers, you may love the DVD.