Animalia is an alphabet book and contains twenty-six illustrations, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each illustration features an animal from the animal kingdom (A is for alligator, B is for butterfly, etc.) along with a short poem utilizing the letter of the page for many of the words. The illustrations contain dozens of small objects that the curious reader can try to identify. As an additional challenge, the author has hidden a picture of himself as a child in every picture. In 1987, Animalia won the title of Honour Book in the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Awards. In 1996, a tenth anniversary edition was released.

Base also published a colouring book version for children to do their own colouring.

A television series was also created, based on the book, which airs in the United States, Australia, Canada and the UK.

External links

• A web site that contains a fairly comprehensive list of items hidden in Animalia's illustrations
• Graeme Base's official website
• Animalia The Television Series official website