This husband-and-wife team’s first book (created in conjunction with the Canadian Museum of Nature) compares 10 pairs of similar-looking animals and helps young readers tell the difference between them. Many of the creatures chosen for comparison, such as wasps and bees or frogs and toads, are common. A few, such as dolphins and porpoises, are less familiar, but still interesting.

Each pair of animals has a full spread featuring a big, bright, picture-book-quality illustration of the animals in their habitat and three to four short large-type paragraphs of text about their physical differences. The text also introduces children to some basic classification terms (such as reptiles and mammals) and includes information about habitat when it’s important. The authors try to avoid generalizing to maintain accuracy, but sometimes get bogged down with confusing details that are unnecessary in such a simple approach. What’s the Difference? is similar to this year’s Whitecap release, A World of Difference. I prefer Annick’s version, which includes more animals in a shorter book and portrays the animals side-by-side, making them much easier for young readers to compare.