Meet the Mini-mammals: A Night at the Natural History Museum

Meticulously painted acrylic and colored pencil spreads by Caldecott Honoree Lies give outsize visual impact to this look at tiny mammals. On the cover, a ferret sporting a bow tie and a formal jacket politely pulls aside a red velvet curtain. “You probably already know a lot about BIG mammals like elephants and hippos and giraffes,” the narrator explains, which is why “this exhibit celebrates small.” Offering visual context, the introductory spread pictures a tiny hedgehog next to an elephant’s massive foot. After defining the word mammal, Stewart (Thank You, Moon) dives into a lively survey, each spread of which views a mini-mammal in close-up on the verso (“Hello, Japanese dwarf flying squirrel!”) with a recto-side view of the animal in its habitat (it “weighs about the same as a small Asian pear”). Nine more mammals of diminishing size are introduced until, at last, readers arrive at the smallest mammal of all (“A Kitti’s hog-nosed bat weighs a little less than four mini marshmallows”). Alongside the gallery of dramatic close-ups, factoid-filled text provides a jumping-off place for conversations about survival and habitat. “Mini-Mammal Small Stats” conclude. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary. (Mar.)