STRANGE CREATURES

Simon and Carroll put 22 ""strange"" creatures on display in one-page profiles and facing black-line-and-dot portraits. Some of the animals have unusual features (the South American hoatin has eyelashes, a stink, and claws on its wings), some curious habits (weaverbird groups construct huge nests that serve as co-op apartments), some impressive abilities (a gecko can walk on the ceiling, and the electric eel can stun a horse at 20 feet), some mainly catchy names (flying dragon). The female Surinam toad carries her eggs on her back (they are put there by the male) and the midwife toad's eggs stick to the male until hatched. Simon gives us general descriptions along with the odd facts, and without pretending to scientific sobriety this conveys as much incidental information as some that do. It's incidental in the aggregate; still, to many kids these creatures will be more interesting than the mythical ones of centuries past.