Wild City

Daniel Henning's audio performance of this concept book is warm, lively, and trying its loyal best to entertain. The book is prone to the cheap laugh (bathroom humor is a favorite), and it isn't exactly about 40 real or wild animals; myths and urban legends pad out the number. Listeners serious about the natural world may be disappointed or irritated, but young readers and others new to the subject will be charmed by interesting factoids about wolves, bears, mastodons, and coyotes. The book's most useful contribution is as a guide to nature excursions available in the five boroughs--did you know you can go out beyond the Verrazano Bridge in search of humpbacked whales with some realistic hope of success? Hynes tells where and how. B.G. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine