ANIMALS

A barrage of basic facts about animals and their habitats in charts and infographics.

As the single-topic pages and spreads are arranged in no discernible order and such niceties as a table of contents and index are dispensed with, this patchwork survey will reward random browsing more than focused enquiry. The book opens with vertical profiles of six biomes and closes with a cautionary closing appeal that charts declining animal populations using large, dramatic arrows. Between these, readers will receive at least exposure to the ideas of food pyramids and indigenous species, animal record holders (“Fastest shark!” “Fastest bird that cannot fly!”), migration, adaptation, typical life spans, and a handful of other topics. Barker depicts a generous quantity of small, stylized, but easily recognizable fauna from, usually, side or head-on angles. Nearly every creature comes with an identifying label. Martineau’s commentary tends toward the stacatto: “The Greenland shark is OVOVIVIPAROUS…eggs hatch INSIDE the mother shark and then the baby sharks are born…10 pups [with image] might live up to 400 YEARS!” Aside from occasional silhouettes, the only human figures are two children, one light skinned, the other darker, decorating a continuing set of side boxes highlighting careers in biology.

Less an animal atlas than a companion to one—but provides decent if scattershot exposure to select fundamentals.