Kids love reading about animals, and in these wonderful picture books, imaginations will take flight just like Seven, the magnificent pigeon in the first book. They will learn about the perfidy of fish in the brilliantly hysterical book about not trusting fish, “Don’t Trust Fish.” Snakes and dogs and small creatures round out the animals we meet in these charming picture books. And a nonfiction series, “Meet the Wild Things,” brings unusual animals to our attention.

“Don’t Trust Fish” is written by Neil Sharpson and illustrated by Dan Santat. Both the text and the illustrations are simply brilliant, and this is probably my favorite picture book of the year. It’s simply stunning, and reading it over and over to my grandchildren has not changed my view. The book starts out describing the different kinds of animals. “This animal has fur. This animal is warm-blooded. This animal feeds her babies milk. This animal is a MAMMAL.” And there’s a picture of a cow. Reptile. Bird. Then, we come to fish. And we are warned: don’t trust fish. The informational part of the book is extraordinarily clever. We learn that “Fish don’t follow any rules. Some of them have gills. Some have lungs.” Some fish live in salt water, others in fresh. Some lay eggs, others do not. The pages get battier and battier and funnier and funnier. There is, for example, the ice fisherman who talks like a pirate, and the author has no idea why. This book is so extraordinarily funny, I’m going to make the outrageous suggestion that you only read it with an empty bladder, so you don’t leak from laughing as hard as you will be from the oh-so-funny and oh-so-clever text and illustrations. The ending is perfect, with—of course—another twist. I could read this book 100 times and not tire of it. I’ll bet you’ll agree. (Dial Books for Young Readers)

“Seven: A Most Remarkable Pigeon” by Sandra Nickel and illustrated by Aimée Sicuro is the lovely tale of a pigeon whose parents named him Seven, after the pigeon who is believed to have flown seven thousand miles from France to Vietnam. Unlike most pigeons, Seven came from a single egg. Usually pigeon couples have two eggs. The other pigeons know that Seven is different from the start as he is an only child. And when he loves to smell things, and follows those smells, they don’t understand. Instead of munching on breadcrumbs at the park, he wanders down the street to where there are rice kernels that smell delicious to him. The family lives over a flower shop, and Seven can’t help bringing rose petals to their nest even though his father tells him that pigeon nests are made of straw and twigs. But after trying to be like the other pigeons, Seven doesn’t feel as dreamy as when he smells roses, and he doesn’t feel as light as a feather when he smells the scent of peach trees in bloom. He feels different and sad. But when the pigeons go on their Big Flight, once a year when they travel and then fly home together, things go wrong. Clouds cover the landmarks they usually use to get home. But Seven doesn’t need landmarks. Like Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, he has his nose. And it’s remarkable. At the end there is a page “About Pigeons,” and there is important nonfiction information for young readers. But the message that we learn from Seven, that sometimes being different has huge rewards, can make those who don’t fit in feel special. Especially if the book is read by a teacher or adult who takes the time to talk about the theme and explains that our differences make us stronger as a whole. (Candlewick Press)

If you desperately want a pet you can hold and hug, but you are terribly allergic to fur and feathers, what can you do? In “So-Hee and Lowy” Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant explore just that. We meet So-Hee, who lives in the city in an apartment with her mother. She has no siblings and no friends. We see that she is ostracized at school, and she and her mother don’t know their neighbors. When So-Hee sees a nonfurry pet sale at the pet store, she gets a large yellow python. Lowy the python becomes her constant companion, and they do everything together. But when Lowy disappears on a cold, winter day, So-Hee is terrified. She makes LOST posters and posts them everywhere. But it turns out that Lowy hasn’t gone far. He’s scared the neighbors. And after So-Hee (and Lowy) meet their neighbors, life changes. So-Hee has friends, and life doesn’t feel so lonely. This is another fabulous choice to point out that being different, having a different pet, is okay. (Two Lions/Amazon)

And for younger animal lovers, “My Dog Smudge” by Sujean Rim is a lift-the-flap picture book that takes us on a journey with a girl trying to figure out what her dog is saying. Wouldn’t we all love to know what our dogs are trying to tell us? Smudge makes some extraordinary sounds for a small black dog. His noises are not barks, like other dogs. And while we don’t learn the name of his companion, she loves him and desperately wants to know what he means to communicate. As she goes from animal to animal, seeking help in “translating” Smudge’s communications, we lift the flap and get a clue about the next animal we’ll visit. And in the end, Smudge tells her what we all want to hear, and what we all know our dogs (and cats) feel for us in their hearts. While the illustrations are pencil and digital effects, Rim has managed to effectuate the feeling of pastels and richly textured paper. Smudge is adorable in rough thick black strokes with a black button nose. (Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum Books for Young Readers)

The nonfiction series “Meet the Wild Things” is accessible to young readers as the books are written in a friendly, first person narrative. Each book is titled “Hello, I’m an —-,” depending on which animal the book is featuring. The animals, a quokka, an axolotl, a sloth, a pangolin, a loris, and a toucan, all relate information about themselves, interspersing the facts with questions for the reader to answer. For example, the sloth says, “I swim really well. Because of the food I eat, my stomach fills with gas like a balloon, helping me to float easily. Can you swim?” Adults will also learn new facts about these unusual creatures. I didn’t know, for example, that the pangolin is the only warm-blooded animal with scales. The illustrations are well done and not cutesy, but engaging. There are additional facts at the end of most of these books and information about how to help the endangered ones. Altogether, this series is one that would be great for any school or classroom library. (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

Please note: This review is based on the final books provided by the publishers for review purposes.