How old is a whale? Animal life spans from the mayfly to the immortal jellyfish

This handsome book presents information on the life spans of animals, beginning with the shortest: the adult mayfly, which emerges from its two-year larval stage underwater, shelters in plants along the bank, and transforms into a winged adult with only 24 hours or less to find a mate, breed, and die while her eggs sink into the water. Generally speaking, larger animals and those living in very cold habitats tend to have longer lives, though the book's last entry, the immortal jellyfish, reacts to danger by reverting to its polyp stage, which it can do repeatedly. Some animals, from monarch butterflies and periodical cicadas to grizzly bears and African elephants, may be familiar to children, while others will not. Although no sources are cited, Murray writes clearly, with a good sense of what will interest kids. The large format showcases Hodgson's digitally enhanced colored-pencil drawings. Unified in style but varied in their settings, details, and dramatic effects, the pictures helpfully illustrate habitats and successive life cycle stages as well as offering views of less-familiar animals, such as the pygmy goby (50 days), the echidna (45 years), the ocean quahog (400 years), and the glass sponge (11,000 years). An intriguing book for animal lovers young and old.

A detailed examination of the elastic life spans of animals on Earth. The amount of time that animals have on our planet is interesting but not as interesting as what they do with that time. That's the key takeaway from an exhaustive, but never exhausting, book about how some animals have but a blink of a life span on Earth (one species of adult mayflies only lives five minutes) while others seem to live forever (the immortal jellyfish appears to regenerate to its birth state in a never-ending cycle). To "discover what these amazing animals make of their time on earth," Murray looks beyond animals' lives and deaths to explain how they maximize that time to keep their species going. Some animals, of course, are more fascinating than others, such as the monarch butterfly, whose life span is between two weeks and eight months but in that time makes a continental journey of up to 2,800 miles, exquisitely illustrated and lucidly explained over four pages. While it's curious that humans are not on the list of 27 species covered, there's still an abundance of mind-blowing facts, particularly about the longevity of, say, the Greenland shark (400-year life span) or the glass sponge (11,000 years!). Well-researched text and winning visuals anchor a fascinating look at life spans. (labeled illustration of all the animals covered) (Nonfiction. 6-9) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.