Editorial Review
SLJ Review of The Ultimate Animal Library
Animal lovers will appreciate this fact-packed series. Short and sentences provide readers with enough information to prepare simple reports. New vocabulary is boldfaced and defined in the glossary without pronunciation guides; the latter would have been helpful for occasionally tricky words.
Each volume provides solid information about appearance/size (with metric and American measures), differences between male and female bodies, habitats, dentition, features that help them navigate and survive in their habitat, mating habits and offspring, and migra-tion patterns.
Plenty of high-quality color photos offer insight into animals’ lives. Some photos include labels with arrows pointing to spe-cific details that aid in comprehension of vocabulary not included in the glossary. Special features in each volume include maps, the animal’s endangered status, visuals of the animal’s place in the food web, and life cycle information.
VERDICT: This highly readable series provides solid information and is recommended for schools and public libraries.