Wild Animal Kingdom: Great White Sharks

Series Review: Grades K-3 This brightly designed nature series will draw the attention of young researchers with its dramatic, close-up photography. Each title covers four broad topic areas: “A Day in the Life,” “Food to Eat and a Place to Live,” “Family Life,” and “Predators and Other Threats.” Text is spare but includes intriguing details, such as the fact that red-eyed tree frogs have a third eyelid that they can see through, that a gray kangaroo can leap 30 feet in a single hop, or that orangutans chew a special leaf into a foam that they spread on sore arms and legs. Each title also includes graphs, a spread showing animal features, a map of the creature’s range, a pictorial food chain, and a spread of intriguing statistics. Occasionally, the text will mention something that begs for an attending picture, such as how red-eyed tree frog hatchlings drop into water from the leaves that held their eggs. The animal feature pages simply label body parts and could be improved with explanations for how those features help the animal to survive. However, these are small criticisms of an otherwise highly attractive and informative series for young nature-lovers. Additional Resources. Glossary. Index. Jan Aldrich Solow, Retired School Librarian, Kingston, New York Highly Recommended