Beautiful Book #19

A Drove of Bullocks: A Compilation of Animal Group Names. PatrickGeorge, 2009.

Name two really great things: collective nouns and clever graphic design. I often wish that I was supreme ruler of the English language tasked with coining collective nouns for animals. What a great job that would be: a murder of crows, an improbability of puffins, a battery of barracudas... Really, it's a wonder anyone ever learns to speak English given how quirky it is.

British design company PatrickGeorge has published several books for children, all of which are visually arresting and most of which are suited to toddlers and babies. Among their titles are four collections of visually witty takes on those delightful and often improbable collective nouns for animal groupings: A Drove of Bullocks (animals) A Filth of Starlings (birds), A Shiver of Sharks (sea life) and A Crackle of Crickets (insects). These books are a delight to look at and should be in every single doctor's, dentist's and optometrist's waiting rooms. They are far better for killing time than the typical Good Housekeeping fare one usually finds. There is a bit of overlap across the books and some have been published on a nicer, glossier paper that the bright illustrations demand, but all are wickedly clever and beautiful.

I've included a few images from my favourite, A Drove of Bullocks, here, but you can see more images and learn more about the books on the PatrickGeorge website. http://patrickgeorge.biz/illustration-our-books And puh-lease: a litter of kittens? How great is that?