Anglerfish / by Valerie J. Weber

Gr 3-5-Three of Earth's more unusual creatures are featured in these entries. They share a deep-sea habitat, and each one has some fascinating characteristics. Anglerfish "swallow prey larger than themselves," while coelacanths have no backbones, and tubeworms survive without mouths. Each spread features a few paragraphs of descriptive text opposite a full-color photograph. The writing is generally engaging, with enough information for short reports, although at times the presentation is not always smooth. In the second title, one page describes coelacanth's unique head joint, for example, but none of the photographs displays that feature. No indication of the size of the giant tubeworm beyond "huge" is provided until halfway through the book. Hydrothermal vents are referenced on the first page of Tubeworms, but only explained later, and the "chimneys" that they form aren't clearly defined, so it may be hard for readers to follow the explanation of tubeworm life. Anglerfish is more successful, with photos that directly depict the page topic and a nicely paced text. There is virtually nothing available for kids on tubeworms and anglerfish, though, and other books about coelacanths are for older readers, so these titles provide needed subject coverage on some very interesting animals.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.