The amazing animal atlas

This handsome oversize atlas features an expansive grouping of animals and the distinctive ecosystems they inhabit. Bordicchia's strikingly detailed animals are accompanied by captions and boxes from zoologist Crumpton that supply engaging details about their behavior and anatomy ("The Siberian flying squirrel flies by stretching out the flaps of skin between its front and back legs"). Double-sided foldouts for North America and Asia give readers a closer look at regions within those continents, and closing sections touch on animal endangerment and conservation. The atlas layout allows for a deeper understanding of the planet's biodiversity while highlighting dozens of intriguing animals. Ages 6-up. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A select gallery of world wildlife, grouped geographically.The presentation is notable chiefly for the clean lines and harmonious coloring of Bordicchia's animal figures and simplified terrain maps. The world tour offers small, naturally posed portraits of several hundred creatures scattered across oversize (and in two cases, large, accordion-folded) leaves with terse accompanying notes highlighting distinctive physical features or behaviors. The maps are largely free of political boundaries and sparsely labeled with major habitat regions. The arbitrarily chosen geographical frames range from Australia ("three million square miles of zoological excitement") and other continents to Madagascar and the Arctic; the selected animals mix occasional unusual specimens like the raccoonlike olinguito of the Andes and a Pyrenean desman (a riverine mole) with the usual suspects. Aside from a tiny white bicyclist in one scene, humans are absent from the arteven on the "tree" (more like a graceful vine, here) of life at the beginningbut at the thematic center of closing spreads that focus on endangered species, environmental conservation, and the need for sustainable energy sources. Too limited for reference but easy on the eyes and well-suited for browsing and sharing with younger animal lovers. (index) (Picture atlas. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.