Lee Anne Martin

Any child who loves learning about animals needs this book! Science teachers, parents and librarians should keep a copy on hand, use it for zoo field trips, explore the animal kingdom and just have fun.

The first thing my daughters and I noticed were obviously the brilliantly vivid eye catching photos. The photographers who captured these magnificent creatures in these brief moments did a wonderful job of showcasing that predatory instinct that makes your skin shiver knowing you are about to show more be on the bottom of Mother Nature’s food chain. The image of the Great White leaping out of the ocean?! It is awe inspiring, breath taking and completely terrifying all at once. I had flashbacks to the PTSD I developed from watching 47 Meters Down – do NOT go cheap when scuba diving with sharks!

When you can finally, and painfully, tear yourself away from the addictiveness of the photographs to delve into the information that has been so thoughtfully presented you will find the journey here satisfying. My kids had fun with the “battle” of the animals as it reminded them of these YouTube videos where they pit various characters against each other and let the viewers vote who they think would win then showcase the ‘fight’; like Batman versus Spiderman or Bobo Fett versus Star Lord. The difference being you’re provided with actual stats and science plus these battles could actually happen.

Along with the battles and animal stats you get to learn about where the various creatures live, their habitats. We learn about their weapons, as in their body parts, which help them attack or defend themselves.

At the end you’re given a cheat sheet of sorts where experts have given their opinions on who would win in the matchups and why they chose their ‘winner’ so you have the chance to either feel victorious or now need to make your case for why they picked the wrong team.

It’s easy to see how you can use this book to go beyond it’s intended function and make games between friends and in the classroom with this information to create your own Battle of the Predators.

My kids had a lot of fun learning about the animals, looking at the pictures and choosing which ‘team’ they believe would win then creating their own match-ups. show less

***This book as reviewed for Quarto Publishing via Netgalley

Amazing World: Sea Creatures is full of beautiful sea life photos. Sections at the beginning look at bioluminescence, and how it works. Twenty different deep-sea beasties who use bioluminescence or fluorescence are looked at in greater depth, with fun facts and information on range, depth, size and diet. Many of these features are quite stunning, like the lanternsharks, firefly squid, and bobtail squid. A popular book in our show more household, Little Moon by Megan Padalecki, is about a bobtail squid. They are so adorable!

Others were the stuff of nightmares, like the gulper eel, and anglerfish. Anglers become more frightening when you read about how the females of many species absorb the males into their bodies, as basically they are only there to be baby daddies. Some females can have up to six (!) absorbed males. That is not okay. My cubs (and myself) were disturbed and saddened to read about the PCB and other human-caused contaminations present on the seafloors, even to the depths of the Mariana Trench and Challenger Deep. How to explain to young children that species alive now will be gone by the time they are grown, and it's humanity’s fault? Not a fun conversation.

While the younger ones enjoyed the pictures, and listening, the book itself is meant more for upper middle school, given the words used, such as bioluminescence, luciferase, and dinoflagellate. That was really my only qualm. Even for those readers, a pronunciation guide would be a great addition.

📚📚📚📚 Recommended for those with an interest in nature, especially sea creatures. show less

***This book was reviewed for Quarto Publishing via Netgalley

Deadliest warriors of the animal kingdom square off in the ultimate battles. There are 45 'matches’, giving the stats for two comparable critters, like speed and intelligence. You will also learn the beastie's Latin name,, habitat, size, defining features, hunting methods, and preferred prey.

Interspersed are seven different sections giving a brief on various habitats and their denizens, such as deep-water, forest, or savannah. show more These intervals did not serve as introductions to new 'matches’, which I and several of my cubs found odd. The pictures in this book are stunning!

We all, cubs and adults alike, spent time over each 'match’, discussing the stats and info given, and debating who the winner would be. We tallied a consensus, and measured it against the answers given later, regarding who the most likely winner would be. We got 38 of 45 correct. Most of our choices came down to intelligence being the biggest factor. Cunning is better than brawn among this knowledge loving nest!

Jonas pointed out that it's not the size of the scorpion that indicates venom potency, but the size of the scorpion’s claws. Smaller claws equals stronger venom. So watch out for the needle-clawed scorps! Scorpions interest my love, as he suffered lasting neuro damage thanks to a childhood sting, on his throat no less O_O

It would have been nice to see a little more information about each animal. Besides the stats, there was only a little two or three sentence blurb with each critter.

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Amazing World Sea Creatures
Encounter 20 Light-Up Animals
by Lee Martin
This is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
This is such a breathtakingly and enchanting book! The pictures are so appealing and captivating. The information is in small bite sizes to help the kids grasp the information easier. The creatures are alluring in their beauty and in their frightful forms. All are dazzling with the glowing lights, strangeness, and rare appearances. I loved the wonderful show more info and the great pictures. It will keep kids, teens, and adults going back to this book again and again. Great end table book, sure to get worn out! The book also comes with light-up stickers, a cute bonus. show less