Hamza’s Wild World of Animal Facts!
Hamza’s Wild World is a lovely illustrated guide for children, to encourage them to love other creatures, as much as he does. Following on from his Wainwright-nominated book on birdwatching, this is his first book for younger readers.
Hamza said in a recent interview, that he would like a world where children can name five trees, rather than five Kardashians!
Contents
- Bodies
- Biodiversity
- Sensing
- Moving
- Fighting and getting along
- Feeding and Pooing!
- Communication
- Breeding and babies
- Day by day
- Growing up and learning
Hamza begins the book, telling how he arrived in England from Sudan age 8 (not knowing a word of English). And rather than find his beloved animals, he confusingly found a big man with a white beard and red jacket, going ‘ho, ho, ho!’
So to learn English, his parents plonked him down of documentaries by Sir David Attenborough, and his passion for wildlife and filming it was born. And in a family of doctors and dentists (and struggling with dyslexia), he knew what he wanted to do!
He writes that he sees dyslexia as his super power (he doesn’t need directions when driving, and knows his birds very well!
We cannot fly like birds, we aren’t as hairy as bears. And we don’t have feathers, scales, wings or horns. We don’t lay eggs. Some animals have more eyes than us, can hear much better than us, or have more hearts than us. The animal world is full of variety.
This is a beautifully written and very original book. Hamza starts by sharing his top 10 favourite species including sparrowhawks (not loved by blue tits, who have a special ‘sparrowhawk nearby’ alarm call), which several other birds understand.
He then goes on to describe animal bones, guts, muscles, breathing, heart, blood, brains and muscles. Here is an interesting and knowledgeable author, who can instil a love for nature in any child or adult.
He covers animals with and without backbones, how fish and amphibians breathe differently, why reptiles need heat, how birds lay eggs and how mammals breastfeed.
Children will get to know Hamza’s ’10 big animals’:
- Blue whale
- Whale shark
- Giant squid
- Saltwater crocodile
- Giraffe
- Hippopotamus
- African elephant
- Ostrich
- Polar bar
- Grizzly (brown) bear
He also lists his 10 favourite smelly animals including stink bugs and stink birds! He compares other creatures, to learn just how fascinating they are:
From courtship dances, along with the knowledge that ants are so strong, they can lift the equivalent of you lifting 20 of your classmates.
Can you imagine if every child in the western world had the delight of reading this book? Not only would they end up with a knowledge and awe for other creatures, but they could likely educate their parents, who then would make different choices on what to buy and not buy, and who to vote for.
It’s a passionate voice like this that youngsters need, in today’s consumerist world. The natural world is far more interesting!
About the Author
Hamza Yassin is a Scottish wildlife cameraman and skilled ornithologist. Born in Sudan, he moved to Scotland while young and took a degree on Zoology with Conservation and a Masters in Biological Photography and Imaging.
He has appeared on many wildlife TV shows including his amazing recent series Hamza’s Hidden Wild Isles.
