Anita Ganeri is an award-winning author of information books for children. Educated at Cambridge University, she has written more than 300 books, including the best-selling 'Horrible Geography' series (Scholastic Children's Books) which won a 2009 Blue Peter Book Award. She writes widely on animals and the natural world. A recent title for Raintree, A Day in the Life of Rainforest Animals: Capybara, has been shortlisted for a Maryland Blue Crab Award 2012. Anita lives in the north of England with her husband, children and assorted pets.
With surprisingly little boilerplate considering how similar their
narrative structures are, these introductions cover, except for the
lemur and the orangutan, all South or Central American animals.
They discuss coloration and other obvious physical features,
geographic ranges, typical foods, predators or prey, reproduction
(except, oddly, when it comes to the piranha), and daily cycles of
activity. Each one ends with a labeled frontal or side "body map"
and four or five mostly age-appropriate sources of further
information. On each page, Ganeri presents information clearly and
simply in large type, two-sentence comments placed below a bright,
sharply reproduced color photograph of the animal in a natural
setting. Some of the pictures-such as one view of a Goliath
bird-eater tarantula actually eating a bird-though naturalistic,
are more likely to stimulate than disturb young viewers. Though so
basic that, for instance, the fact that there are some nocturnal
lemur varieties goes unmentioned, these treatments are sufficiently
specific to support assignment as well as pleasure reading. -John
Peters, formerly at New York Public Library School Library Journal
November 2010-- "School Library Journal"
This series would be a great addition to any elementary library.
Students will enjoy the beautiful photographs, easy text, and
colorful maps. The layout of the books creates an easy to use
resource for students who are just starting to read nonfiction.
Colorful labeled photographs are used throughout. Boldfaced words
are defined in the glossary along with a picture example of the
word. A basic body map of all animals is included to help students
identify the basic parts that were discussed. Bibliography.
Glossary. Websites. Table of Contents. Index. - Paulette Moon, Atha
Road Elementary School, Monroe, Georgia Library Media Connection
March/April 2011-- "Library Media Connection"
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