September 15, 2012
Grades K-2 If your backyard is populated with as many creatures as there are volumes in the Backyard Wildlife series, it's time to put the house on the market. Taken in smaller doses, though, these brief, colorful volumes continue to be a solid first step to helping the youngest readers make connections between what they see and what they don't. A quibble: the chapter headings listed in the table of contents do not appear on later pages. That aside, the left-hand text (one or two short sentences) and right-hand photos make the books easy to navigate and understand. As you might expect, Bats has nightmare potential, with its shots of the leathery beasts swarming by the thousands and trapping insects. And there's this: Vampire bats drink the blood of cows, horses, and other animals! Start here, animal fans, and then let deeper series guide budding interests.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)