School Library Journal Review

Gr 3-7-While the idea of organizing animals by habitat is commendable, this series falls short. A rather lackluster introduction defines the habitat and shows a world map with the specific areas highlighted, followed by the rest of the volume with a page devoted for each of 40 animals. Each creature is presented with a crisp color photo, a labeled illustration, vital statistics, and a size comparison, as well as an individualized habitat map-which is not particularly helpful as it doesn't highlight the specific areas mentioned in the caption. Italicized words are defined within the texts. The series as a whole does not mention biomes or the biosphere, and there are some editorial missteps. For instance, the aardwolf's inclusion in Deserts seems out of place given that the narrative states, "the animal lives only in grassland and savanna areas," and steppe is misspelled as "steepe" on three different occasions in the Grasslands glossary. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.