Overview
Big cats are on the prowl and ready to pounce.From their amazing skill as predators to their incredible strength and grace, big cats are some of the most awe-inspiring animals on Earth. Female lions work as a team to ambush and capture their prey. The more solitary leopard is able to drag an animal much larger than itself up a tree. And the Siberian tiger, the biggest cat of all, can weigh almost seven hundred pounds and measure the length of a compact car.
Award-winning science writer Dorothy Hinshaw Patent clearly presents the facts about all big cats, from where they live to what they hunt to how they are threatened by humans. With fine artist Kendahl Jan Jubb's striking watercolors, these perfectly adapted hunting machines leap off the pages.
Synopsis
Big cats are on the prowl and ready to pounce.
From their amazing skill as predators to their incredible strength and grace, big cats are some of the most awe-inspiring animals on Earth. Female lions work as a team to ambush and capture their prey. The more solitary leopard is able to drag an animal much larger than itself up a tree. And the Siberian tiger, the biggest cat of all, can weigh almost seven hundred pounds and measure the length of a compact car.
Award-winning science writer Dorothy Hinshaw Patent clearly presents the facts about all big cats, from where they live to what they hunt to how they are threatened by humans. With fine artist Kendahl Jan Jubb’s striking watercolors, these perfectly adapted hunting machines leap off the pages.
Children's Literature
Invariably, zoos have their usual big-ticket attractions—pandas, apes, and the big cats—especially lions and tigers. This well-crafted, wonderfully illustrated book is an ideal introduction to these magnificent predators. The first page gives readers a fast, up close and personal look at these cats. The page depicts a tiger, in prey-stalking mode, and describes how big cats are among the largest, most powerful hunters in the world, ranging in size from cheetahs, weighing 160 pounds, to the Siberian tiger, tipping the scales at nearly 700 pounds. After reading this page and quickly completing the book, my son was eager to put what he learned into practice. The next day, we visited the zoo and headed straight to the big cats, checking our memories from reading the day before against the reality displayed before us. This book is marvelously detailed, also describing how big cats' front paws have five toes each and the hind ones have four apiece. The author also details the differences among the cats, discussing how cougars are more closely related to house cats than they are to jaguars and tigers. There is also discussion of how cheetahs and jaguars are endangered because of hunting and poaching. In the 1960s, for example, 15,000 jaguars were killed each year just in Brazil. This title should become the first choice resource for learning about these impressive animals.