The Ultimate Animal Library

In this series, the reader learns about specific animals in each book. The animals all range from amphibians, mammals, birds, and fish. The animals all live on various continents and oceans throughout the world. Each book begins with describing the physical traits and characteristics specific to that animal. Each book has a map showing the location the animal can be found. The books also have diagrams of the different body parts of the animal. The books each have a diagram of the food web of that specific animal showing photographs of the food it eats as well as the predators to that animal. The photographs of the animal in its true habitat are engaging and make the reader feel as if he/she is on an animal expedition, observing the animal in the wild.

As a teacher, these books are a dream for students doing research projects because the books are all aligned in the same format. Therefore, a teacher can work on non-fiction text features with students and use different books from the same series. This makes research projects more cohesive and easier to navigate for the young researchers. Young researchers get excited to share information with their peers from the books due to the ease of understanding the animal with the non-fiction text supports.

Some non-fiction text features included in each book are engaging photographs, a map, a table of contents, labels, headings, a diagram, bold-faced words, a glossary, and an index. The real photographs of the animals are engaging to readers of all ages. Make sure you check out these books to learn more about animals in their natural habitats!

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.