Bone Collection: Animals

Gr 4–7—A handsome bit of bookmaking holds a bountiful, beautiful bunch of bones displayed in tawny tones on charcoal pages. From bats to beavers, pachyderms to platypuses, horses to humans, the carefully drawn skeletons glow on the page. Accompanied by "pointers"' to such specialties as beaver teeth, kangaroo shins, and the fused ribs of a turtle, the clear captions provide snippets of information (such as, cod like cold water and elephant seals can dive as deep as 1000 feet). Each critter is also paired with two pages of data about similar animals (an echidna with the platypus skeleton, for example, and capybaras and mole rats with the beaver). These pages are graced with small color photos and drawings. One spread labels a lion's bones. The artwork is eye-catching, reminiscent, perhaps, of the "plastination" exhibits wandering about the country, but far more elegant and perusable at will. Not, perhaps, a first choice for a research project (unless skeletal comparisons are part of the picture), but attractive, inviting, and browsable.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY