The Life Cycle of Reptiles

Booklist - Carolyn Phelan

"Books in the Life Cycles series cover considerably more than their titles imply. Highly illustrated four-page sections discuss topics such as what defines animals in each classification, how they are born or hatched, where they live, and how they grow, move, protect themselves, spend their time, and reproduce. Focusing on frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians, Amphibians is informative but somewhat repetitive: three separate sections explain that some caecilians hatch from eggs, while others do not. Birds provides a well-organized account of avian creatures, including topics such as preening, digestion, and adaptations to different habitats. After Mammals explains what separates this class from the rest of the animal kingdom, it introduces individual species as examples of physical attributes and behaviors. Though the writing in Reptiles could sometimes be more precise, the book offers a good sense of the variety of reptiles in the world. The books’ colorful illustrations include many fine photos from a variety of sources as well as some clearly delineated digital drawings showing, for example, the cross section of an egg with a developing chick inside or stages in the life cycles of snakes, crocodiles, lizards, and turtles. Back matter consists of a glossary and brief lists of books and websites. —Carolyn Phelan Booklist9/15/2011" - Booklist

September 15, 2011