The many big and (otherwise) realistic illustrations of toothy sharks, brightly patterned dinosaurs, and other predators in these series provide dramatic (and, on occasion, melodramatic) visual highlights aplenty for browsers averse to splatters of gore. In general the texts provide at least moderate factual nourishment for enquiring young minds.

Preschool - Grade 4

CLARK, Willow. Black Widow Spider! ISBN 978-1-60754-959-8. LC 2010004427. ————. Crocodile! ISBN 978-1-60754-956-7. LC 2010004430. ————. Gila Monster! ISBN 978-1-60754-960-4. LC 2010004428. ————. Poison Dart Frog! ISBN 978-1-60754-961-1. LC 2010004426. ————. Rattlesnake! ISBN 978-1-60754-958-1. LC 2010004434. ————. Shark! ISBN 978-1-60754-957-4. LC 2010004429. ea vol: 24p. (Animal Danger Zone Series). photos. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Windmill. 2010. PLB $21.35. Gr 2-3—Pairing plenty of bright, close-up color photos of dangerous creatures in natural settings with brief and breezy commentary, these profiles impart light doses of information about habitat, behavior, life cycle, and predators or other threats to go along with the eye candy. The relationship between text and pictures is sometimes casual—photos of an alligator and a crocodile with mouths agape accompany a description of how to tell them apart that requires seeing them with closed mouths, and the flaw in "The Australian red-back spider looks a lot like its American cousin, which is shown here" is self-explanatory. However, these volumes should still make enjoyable additions for browsing and assignment purposes. Though it makes at least a gesture toward instructional use, a closing page of random facts in each book includes some repetition of previously presented material. MARKS, Jennifer L. Bobcats. ISBN 978-1-4296-4480-8. LC 2010002795. ————. Clouded Leopards. ISBN 978-1-4296-4482-2. LC 2010002797. ————. Jaguars. ISBN 978-1-4296-4481-5. LC 2010002798. SHORES, Erika L. Canada Lynx. ISBN 978-1-4296-4484-6. LC 2010002796. ————. Mountain Lions. ISBN 978-1-4296-4485-3. LC 2010002799. ————. Snow Leopards. ISBN 978-1-4296-4483-9. LC 2010002800. ea vol: 24p. (Pebble Plus: Wildcats Series). illus. map. photos. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Capstone. 2010. PLB $23.99. K-Gr 2—Plenty of full-page, close-up photos of wildcats in natural (or seemingly natural) settings will attract a broad audience to these primers. The accompanying texts are substantial even though they total less than 200 words per volume. Constructed along similar but not identical lines, each presentation covers geographical range (with a small map), average size, physical adaptations for the cat's habitat, typical prey, life cycle, threats, and average life span in the wild. Photos depict wildcats chasing or, sometimes, carrying prey, but not actually eating it, and in many shots the cats are looking directly out in a viewer-engaging way. Two-item print reading lists and a link to web resources on the publisher's site close each title. RAKE, Jody Sullivan. Bull Shark. ISBN 978-1-4296-5015-1. LC 2010002272. ————. Great White Shark. ISBN 978-1-4296-5013-7. LC 2010002270. ————. Hammerhead Shark. ISBN 978-1-4296-5014-4. LC 2010002271. ————. Mako Shark. ISBN 978-1-4296-5016-8. LC 2010002273. ea vol: 32p. (Blazers: Shark Zone Series). illus. map. photos. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Capstone. 2010. PLB $25.32. Gr 2-3—Serving a high-interest topic in mediocre ways, these titles present selected varieties of shark with a combination of simple texts in two-or-three sentence blocks and melodramatic but clumsily processed photos. Many of the latter look artificially colored and/or muddy, with bottom borders done in a crude dissolve-to-white spray effect. The basic factual information about range, prey, and distinctive behavior can easily be found elsewhere, and is sometimes unclear ("Scientists believe hammerheads find their way using magnetic fields on the ocean floor") or unlikely ("But most hammerhead bites are not serious"). STAUNTON, Joseph. Dinosaurs in the Sea. ISBN 978-1-60753-107-4. LC 2009029769. ————. Dinosaurs in the Sky. ISBN 978-1-60753-108-1. LC 2009029977. ————. Meat-Eating Dinosaurs. ISBN 978-1-60753-109-8. LC 2009028237. ————. Plant-Eating Dinosaurs. ISBN 978-1-60753-110-4. LC 2009028006. ea vol: illus. by Luis Rey. 32p. (Discover the Dinosaurs Series). charts. illus. chron. glossary. index. CIP. Amicus. 2010. PLB $28.50. Gr 3-5—Loosely defining the term "dinosaur," (particularly in Dinosaurs in the Sea), these volumes each introduce 10 large prehistoric creatures with brief boxed comments and charts of "dino-data" surrounding large painted portraits. Rey's illustrations will be the chief draw here; speculating freely about external coloration, he poses extravagantly hued monsters in extravagant (but not gory) scenes—usually attacking or being attacked while displaying impressive claws, horns, and, particularly, dentition. The pictures compensate for a certain amount of narrative boilerplate, and challenging quizzes at the end of each volume may tempt browsers to flip back for second looks at the texts. WEST, David. Ankylosaurus and Other Armored and Plated Herbivores. ISBN 978-1-4339-4230-3. LC 2010018107. ————. Parasaurolophus and Other Duck-Billed and Beaked Herbivores. ISBN 978-1-4339-4227-3. LC 2010011540. ————. Triceratops and Other Horned Herbivores. ISBN 978-1-4339-4233-4. LC 2010009749. ————. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Other Giant Carnivores. ISBN 978-1-4339-4236-5. LC 2010009604. ————. Velociraptor and Other Raptors and Small Carnivores. ISBN 978-1-4339-4224-2. LC 2010015867. ea vol: 32p. (Dinosaurs! Series). illus. chron. glossary. index. CIP. Gareth Stevens. 2010. PLB $26.60. Gr 3-5—Each volume introduces a dozen examples of a selected type of dinosaur depicted with toothy realism in painted portraits that occupy the top two-thirds of each spread. The captions and short commentary below, printed in three sizes, is laced with polysyllabic dino-names and judiciously hedged facts. Though visible gore is, disappointingly, almost entirely absent and many scenes are oddly obscured by haze or dust, the animals are all posed in mid-charge or leap, or defending themselves against predators. In small spot images in a lower corner of the spread, the highlighted creature faces off against a housecat, a human, or in Triceratops, a rhino, to suggest scale. Closing galleries of other dinos that have put in cameos add interest.

Grades 5 and Up

DIXON, Dougal. Meat-Eating Dinosaurs. reprods. ISBN 978-1-18489-334-2. LC 2010925204. ————. Plant-Eating Dinosaurs. ISBN 978-1-18489-333-5. LC 2010925201. ————. Prehistoric Oceans. reprods. ISBN 978-1-18489-332-8. LC 2010925200. ————. Prehistoric Skies. reprods. ISBN 978-1-18489-331-1. LC 2010925205. ea vol: 48p. (Dinosaur Files Series). charts. illus. maps. photos. chron. further reading. glossary. index. Web sites. NewForest Press. 2010. PLB $28.50. Gr 4-6—Despite using fossil photos and realistically painted reconstructions from multiple sources and numerous passages of cut-and-pasted text from Dixon's previous publications, these information-packed surveys will be hits with dino-philes. Each one treats its topic in some breadth, blending spreads of different types or spectacular specimens with side looks at the effects of continental drift, dinosaur anatomy, discoveries at renowned fossil sites, and techniques or advances in paleontology. Each one ends with a spread of discoveries made within the past few years, plus an unusually diverse multimedia array of further resources. Though the pictures may be too small to keep casual browsers riveted, there's some discreet gore in Meat-eating Dinosaurs and plenty of melodramatic posing throughout. GILBERT, Sara. Apatosaurus. maps. ISBN 978-1-58341-974-8. LC 2009025536. ————. Triceratops. maps. ISBN 978-1-58341-977-9. LC 2009025537. ————. Tyrannosaurus Rex. maps. ISBN 978-1-58341-978-6. LC 2009025539. PETERSON, Sheryl. Pterodactyl. maps. ISBN 978-1-58341-975-5. LC 2009025175. ————. Stegosaurus. ISBN 978-1-58341-976-2. LC 2009025176. ————. Velociraptor. maps. ISBN 978-1-58341-979-3. LC 2009025540. ea vol: 48p. (Age of Dinosaurs Series). illus. photos. reprods. bibliog. further reading. glossary. index. CIP. Creative Education. 2010. PLB $34.25. Gr 4-6—Marked by elegant, if impractical, design, these studies cover the major fossil discoveries, physical makeup, behavioral patterns (both as first proposed in the 19th century and as currently theorized), and prehistoric environments of selected popular dinosaurs. Divided into chapters rather than the usual topical spreads, the narratives are accompanied by photos and art in a broad range of styles, color schemes, degrees of manipulation, and quality of reproduction. Not only is the text printed in a very thin typeface and occasionally even laid over an image, causing extra-low legibility, but the relationship between the writing and the visuals is sometimes loose—a claim that pterodactyls probably didn't hang upside down like bats is contradicted by a later picture, for instance. Other illustrations are not to scale or only marginally relevant. GREEN, Jen. Bears. illus. map. ISBN 978-1-60753-044-2. LC 2009044218. ————. Sharks. illus. ISBN 978-1-60753-046-6. LC 2009048514. ————. Snakes. illus. ISBN 978-1-60753-047-3. LC 2009049339. MORGAN, Sally. Alligators and Crocodiles. map. ISBN 978-1-60753-043-5. LC 2009049338. ————. Eagles. reprods. ISBN 978-1-60753-045-9. LC 2009048512. ————. Spiders. ISBN 978-1-60753-048-0. LC 2009049340. ————. Tigers. reprods. ISBN 978-1-60753-049-7. LC 2009048515. ea vol: 32p. (Amazing Animal Hunters Series). diags. photos. glossary. index. Web sites. CIP. Amicus 2010. PLB $28.50. Gr 4-6—Both browsers and readers with more than a casual interest will be drawn to these introductions to predators. In each one, large color photos on every page share space with descriptions of major species and habitats and informative explanations of the animals' life cycles and how they adapted to hunt, ambush, or set traps for prey. The general tone is matter of fact, though occasional lines such as "a tarantula can liquefy the body of a mouse in just two days," (Spiders) and views of crocodiles, a python, an eagle, and others chowing down—not to mention a photo in Sharks of a one-armed surfer—may elicit emotional reactions in readers. Each volume closes with a spread of selected "Facts and Records," and a list of web resources. The Bottom Line

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Readers who relish detailed depictions of nature "red in tooth and claw" will be disappointed by most of these offerings, as with but rare exceptions the photos and other art go light on explicit blood and guts. Capstone's "Pebble Plus: Wildcats"offers the chewiest choice for its good balance of visual interest and factual content. Despite usually surefire subject matter, Creative Education's "Age of Dinosaurs" is hobbled by overly busy design, and Capstone's "Shark Zone" is flawed on several counts—not that it will be missed, as there are already plenty of other fish in those topical seas. The other series will make popular, if unexceptional, additions to collections serving younger and middle-grade readers.