Animal Life

October 15, 2009
Grades 5-8 These two new entries in the One Million Things series are a couple hundred pages (and, one assumes, a few things) short of the One Million Things: A Visual Encyclopedia (2008) that instigated the series, but they maintain the flashy cover and familiar DK interior design. The series name is a bit of a head-scratcher, as there simply isnt one million of anything in either book, but whos counting? Animal Life lumps Diversity, Life Skills, and Lifestyles into three main subsections and again makes good use of DKs anything-goes approach to layout, introducing a concept with a paragraph before numerous smaller captions per page delve into greater detail. The artwork is a balanced mix of stunning photography, effective illustrations, and somewhat depth-challenged Photoshop jobs. An eye-catching catchall on the natural world, this series is great browsing material, packed full of well-articulated information.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)