Animals That Might Exist, critters from another mother to entertain all

Animals That Might Exist is a very clever book that could be viewed via two, different lenses. Either of them will agree that the book is an incredibly well-crafted and produced book. Its pages are thicker than regular ones and when combined with its interior drawings help the book exude an aurora of a long-lost encyclopedia from the Gary Lawson non-fiction wing of biology. And having said that, there’s a third lens that people might enjoy reading Animals That Might Exist.

As the name implies, Animals That Might Exist is a fanciful diversion in critters that aren’t real. However, even as I typed that sentence, I paused midway to look up one of them in the book that sounded all-too, non-fiction. The Silverback Achoolug is a slimy, sloth-like, creature whose species is entirely made up of females, but they’re in no danger of becoming extinct because they’re immortal. Their skin’s luminescence is not because of drool, rather, it’s snot due to the fact that they sneeze constantly.

Now, take that description, make it wholly believable, sprinkle in some very dry humor, and top it off with a handful of illustrations. Not just any illustrations mind you, these are pencil illustrations that harken back to the spirit of The Far Side or the animation behind the Red Bull commercials. They’re realistic, very imaginative, detailed, friendly, funny, and accessible.

Every two pages are dedicated to an animal that might exist, but so far hasn’t been discovered. The animal is presented as you might see it, with a cartoon about it, a comparison of its height, and what habitat it would live in. The main illustration has details that point out the physical adaptations that it would have as it evolved through the millennia in the wild. There are also a couple of paragraphs that parry the illustrations with their wit and allude to the dangers that the animals could present.

The Dachshephant is color blind, but extremely grumpy and will explode if it eats anything beige. The Chothawp is an enormous animal that trolls the bottom of lakes singing repetitious, songs that only the youngest of fish don’t find annoying. Outside of that narrow age, the other fish can’t tolerate it and are thankful that it lives near the bottom, where others don’t encounter it much. The animals in Animals That Might Exist are divided up into eight categories, with them being laid out onto different plates (pages) that are given roman numerals for the pieces of paper that they are on.

This is another detail that adds authenticity to this book full of pretend animals. The roman numerals add a distinction of Animals That Might Exist being an old, recently discovered manuscript. It’s a long-running, dry joke that hits the nail on the head, puts its tongue firmly in cheek, and never overtly lets the audience in on the joke.

It’s so effective at playing it close to the vest that it might have a challenging time finding its audience. The really clever kids will immediately get the book and try to fool their friends into thinking that it’s a real animal that they just haven’t heard of. Some of them will embrace the silliness of the book and absolutely love the cartoon illustrations. The imaginative kids will read the book, know that they can’t possibly exist, but still ask an adult if the critters in the book are real. In the end, that could be the purpose and the best-laid intentions of Animals That Might Exist. It’s creative, mind food for kids that want to use their imagination about animals that probably don’t exist, but it’s funny to think about them if they do.

Animals That Might Exist is by Professor O’Logist, aka Stephanie Nicolet with illustrations by Jean-Baptiste Drouot.

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