Review by Booklist Review
This compilation of some of nature's most notable nocturnes is all about adaptation. From the biggest and most complex nocturnal mammals, such as the gray wolf, down to the tiniest cave-dwelling cricket and fungus gnat, this book highlights the most amazing means that animals use to thrive in the dark. Many of these adaptations are common, such as heightened visual acuity and alternative means of hearing, while others, like bioluminescence and transparent eyelids, are extraordinary. Vampire bats, cave-dwelling sea creatures, and several hairy, scary arachnids are spooky and fun topics of discussion. Each two-page spread is packed with full-color photographs and informational captions. A Fact File in the marginalia details species' diets and habitats. Obscure trivia will astound even ardent animal buffs. A glossary defines unfamiliar terms, and an index organizes all species that are mentioned. This detailed look at creatures that go bump in the night is a reminder of just how amazing animal adaptations are.--Anderson, Erin Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-These attractive volumes cover a wide variety of unusual animals. Devoting a spread to each creature, the books describe basic information, such as diet, habitat, size, and unique abilities. The layouts are dramatic, featuring fascinating, sometimes stunning, photos and drawings set against black backgrounds, such as frightening spreads of a wolf spider and a giant desert hairy scorpion. Succinct, intriguing facts will keep readers enthralled. Creatures of the Night sheds light on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates, including the well-known (gray wolf, leopard) and the unusual (puss mouth moth, fungus gnat). Monsters of the Deep includes an equally wide variety of ocean inhabitants: whales, sharks, and turtles, as well as the flashlight fish and comb jelly (though categorizing some of them, such as the beluga whale or the Weddell seal, as "monsters" seems a stretch). Charming looks at some odd creatures.-Carol Schene, formerly at Taunton Public Schools, MA (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A slickly produced if arbitrarily ordered gallery of nocturnal wildlife, from leopards to the giant desert hairy scorpion, featuring dozens of close-up portraits and quick, easily graspable facts. Sharply printed on coated paper against, usually, a black background and often angled to face viewers, the dominant central photograph or photorealistically rendered image on each spread creates an immediate visual impact with each turn of the page. Smaller surrounding photos focus on physical or behavioral highlights or introduce related creatures. Captions and comments tucked amid the images supply a browser-friendly mix of standard-issue descriptions and must-know observations. Among the latter: Vampire bats slurp and pee at the same time, owl "eyeballs" (sic) are tube-shaped, and railroad worms "survive by biting the heads off millipedes and sucking out the liquid from inside them!" Good stuff! The simultaneously published Monsters of the Deep offers similar infotainment with a marine cast that includes ratfish, snipe eels and several all-mouth anglerfish among the sharks, whales and other usual suspects. Tailor-made for budding zoologists as well as casual browsers. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
