INFORMATION BOOKS | Collective Nouns :: A Zeal of Zebras + Brian Wildsmith’s Animal Gallery

Who knew?

• An ambush of tigers
• An array of hedgehogs
• An army of ants/caterpillars/frogs
• An ascension of larks
• A badling of ducks
• A bale of turtles
• A ballet of swans
• A band of coyotes/gorillas/jays/men
• A barrel of monkeys
• A barren of mules
• A bask of crocodiles
• A battery of barracudas
• A bazaar of guillemots
• A bed of clams/eels/oysters/snakes
• A bevy of quail/roebucks/swans
• A bloat of hippos
• A bouquet of pheasants
• A brace of ducks/grouse
• A brood of chicks/hens/pheasants
• A building of rooks
• A bury of conies/rabbits
• A business of ferrets/flies
• A caravan of camels
• A cast of falcons/hawks
• A cete of badgers
• A chain of bobolinks
• A charm of falcons/finches/magpies
• A chattering of choughs
• A clamor of rooks
• A cloud of gnats/bats/grasshoppers
• A clowder of cats
• A cluster of bees/grasshoppers
• A clutch of chicks
• A clutter of cats/starlings
• A colony of ants/beavers/gulls/penguins/rabbits
• A company of parrots/widgeons
• A congregation of plover/people
• A congress of baboons
• A conspiracy of ravens
• A convocation of eagles
• A corps of giraffes
• A cover of coots
• A covey of grouse/partridges/pheasants/ptarmigans/quail
• A cowardice of curs
• A crash of rhinos
• A crowd of people
• A cry of hounds
• A culture of bacteria
• A deceit of lapwings
• A descent of woodpeckers
• A dissimulation of birds
• A dole of doves
• A down of hares
• A doylt of swine
• A draught of fish
• A dray of squirrels
• A drift of swine
• A dropping of pigeons
• A drove of cattle
• A drumming of grouse
• A dule of doves
• A durante of toucans
• An earth of foxes
• An exaltation of larks
• A fall of woodcocks
• A family of otter
• A fesnyng of ferrets
• A field of racehorses
• A flight of birds/butterflies/cormorants/doves/goshawks/swallows
• A flink of cows (12+)
• A float of crocodiles
• A flock of geese/lice/sheep
• A fluther of jellyfish
• A gaggle of geese
• A gam of whales
• A gang of buffalo/elk
• A gatling of woodpeckers
• A generation of vipers
• A grist of bees
• A gulp of cormorants/magpies
• A harras of horses
• A herd of buffaloes/curlews/elephants/horse/kangaroo/pigs/wrens
• A hide of tigers
• A hive of bees
• A horde of gnats
• A host of sparrows
• A hover of trout
• A hum of bees
• A husk of hares/jackrabbits
• An intrigue of kittens
• An intrusion of cockroaches
• A journey of giraffes
• A kennel of dogs
• A kettle of hawks
• A kindle of kittens
• A kine of cows
• A knot of snakes/toads
• A labour of moles
• A lamentation of swans
• A leap of hares/leopards
• A leash of foxes/greyhounds
• A litter of cubs/pigs/puppies
• A mask of raccoons
• A mob of kangaroos/emus
• A murder of crows/magpies
• A murmuration of starlings
• A muster of peacocks
• A mustering of storks
• A mutation of thrushes
• A mute of hounds
• An obstinacy of buffalo
• An ostentation of peacocks
• A muster of storks
• A mute of hounds
• A nest of hornets/mice/rabbits/vipers/wasps
• A nye/nide of pheasants
• A pace of asses
• A pack of hounds/rats/wolves
• A paddling of ducks
• A pair of horses
• A pandemonium of parrots
• A parade of elephants
• A parliament of owls/rooks
• A party of jays
• A passel/parcel of hogs
• A peep of chickens
• A piteousness of doves
• A pitying of turtledoves
• A pladge of wasps
• A plague of locusts
• A plump of waterfowl/wildfowl
• A pod of boar/dolphin/seals/walrus/whales
• A pounce of cats
• A prattle of parrots
• A prickle of hedgehogs/porcupines
• A pride of lions
• A quiver of cobras
• A rafter of turkeys
• A rag of colts
• A ramuda of horses
• A rhumba of rattlesnakes
• A richness of martens
• A romp of otters
• A rookery of penguins
• A rout of wolves
• A rumpus of baboons
• A run of poultry
• A rush of pochard
• A school of fish/porpoises
• A scold of jays
• A sedge of cranes
• A shiver of sharks
• A shoal of bass/pilchards/shad
• A shrewdness of apes
• A siege of cranes/herons
• A singular of boars
• A skein of geese/pheasants
• A skulk of foxes/larks/quail
• A sleuth/sloth of bears
• A smack/smuth of jellyfish
• A sneak of weasels
• A sord of mallards
• A sounder of wild swine/boars/foxes
• A span of mules
• A spring of teal
• A squabble of seagulls
• A stand of flamingo
• A stench of skunks
• A streak of tigers
• A string of ponies/horses
• A stud of mares
• A swarm of ants/bees/eels
• A team of horses/ducks/oxen
• A swarm of bees
• A thunder of hippos
• A tiding of magpies
• A tittering of magpies
• A tok of capercaillie
• A totter/tower of giraffes
• A tribe of goats/monkeys/dotterel
• A trip of goats
• A troop of baboons/monkeys/kangaroos
• A turn of turtles
• An ubiquity of sparrows
• An unkindness of ravens
• A volary of birds
• A wake of buzzards/vultures
• A walk of snipe
• A warren of rabbits
• A watch of nightingales
• A wedge of geese/swans
• A wing of plovers
• A wisdom of owls
• A wisp of snipe
• A yoke of oxen
  

SOURCE >www.collective-noun.com

I came across these two extraordinary — and strikingly dissimilar in style — books today and they prompted me to do some more research about collective nouns.

Who knew that the English language had so many strange names for collectivities of animals?

Woop Studios — Miraphora Mina, Eduardo Lima (photo, below), Harriet Logan, and Mark Faulkner — have a contemporary graphic style that is extremely appealing. The words are engaging, too!

The cover of A Zeal of Zebras sets the tone for what’s inside. The Studio’s artwork captures the essential “animalness” of each of the collective nouns they cover in this gorgeous book.

I’d recommend A Zeal of Zebras as a gift for your graphically-minded friends — they’ll appreciate its bold style.

Woop is, I think, bent on becoming a repository for all of these, as they put it, “eccentricities of the English language.” Be sure to check out WOOP WORDS (link below) for more collective nouns.

From their website:

We believe that making a comprehensive A-Z list of collective nouns freely accessible will help those who share our fascination learn new terms and enjoy and share familiar. We hope that irrespective of whether you are browsing for fun or researching for homework that you will find these words, images and facts entertaining and informative. If you enjoy exploring this list you may well find our forthcoming book A Zeal of Zebras worth a look.

Some of the collective terms listed have real pedigree and lineage and can be found in JThe Oxford English Dictionary, ames Lipton’s 1968 An Exaltation of Larks or even The Book of St. Albans published in 1486. Some are of a more dubious and newer vintage than the original terms of venery. We make no apologies for being eclectic and hope that you will have fun with the words and enjoy our graphic interpretation of some of them.

Brian Wildsmith is, to me, the Eric Carle of England (though he resides in France). He liberated children’s picture books in the mid-sixties with his emphasis on minimal text and brilliantly conceived (art directed, really) page spreads with lots and lots of white space to let his images breathe on the page.

Wildsmith has never achieved Carle’s level of success because he refuses to repeat himself. I think his artistry is unique and superlative and underappreciated.

Trust the Japanese to know a quality artist when they come across one: the Brian Wildsmith Museum is located in Izu-kogen, south of Tokyo (link below).

Here are a few words about Wildsmith pulled from The Guardian:

Korky Paul on Brian Wildsmith

Brian Wildsmith’s work came out in the 1960s and he changed picture books. It was revolutionary stuff. One of his best books is The Hare and the Tortoise. He uses his own colours. He plays with scale, and his animals have characters: roosters strut their stuff, chickens are always eating, cats always sleeping.

What I like about his work is his wonderful use of white space; there are raggedy edges and extraordinary detail. He uses a mixture of media: watercolour, wash, then he works on top with chalk or pen. There is a lot of movement there.

My work is more spiky, but I love trying to create a fantasy world and to stylise it. Children’s books allow artists of all kinds to explore their own vision, how they see the world, and that’s what Wildsmith achieves so well. Exposing children to that teaches them that there are all sorts of ways of viewing the world.

Korky Paul has created illustrations for books including the Winnie the Witch series.

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Click on the links below to find out more about these brilliant artists and their fact books for children that illustrate the strange collective nouns we use to name animals.

These two books are full of strange and fascinating collective nouns accompanied by rich illustrations drawn with flair and élan.

Though utterly different in style, both are highly recommended for kids of all ages.

Brian Wildsmith Museum of Art

ワイルドスミス絵本美術館