Concise Nature Encyclopedia (Concise Series)

This portable guide to the living world and its inhabitants — both flora and fauna — is a must for school and home. It explores every major plant and animal group, richly illustrating the extraordinary range of living things that are found in every corner of the planet, from microscopic single-celled organisms to giant redwoods and blue whales. Species features are a perfect source of bite-size information on animals or plants of particular interest, such as the Arctic bumblebee, the welwitschia plant, and the vampire squid.

This portable guide to the living world and its inhabitants — both flora and fauna — is a must for school and home. It explores every major plant and animal group, richly illustrating the extraordinary range of living things that are found in every corner of the planet, from microscopic single-celled organisms to giant redwoods and blue whales. Species features are a perfect source of bite-size information on animals or plants of particular interest, such as the Arctic bumblebee, the welwitschia plant, and the vampire squid.

Children's Literature

This hefty book is over an inch thick but is only a diminutive 6 x 8 inches in the page dimensions. The small typeface reflects this reduced format. However, the photographs and the layout make the book easy and inviting to read. The cover photograph shows a bright green frog with glowing red eyes peeking over a leaf. The book is divided into three main sections. The first section talks about planet earth, how it was formed, the different habitats, weather, seasons, the evolution of life, genes, DNA, adaptation, and extinction. Part two, entitled, "The Living World," contains six chapters, divided into how to classify living things, the microscopic life, fungi, plants, and animals. Each of the chapters is subdivided into more detailed, bite-sized information chunks. In the chapter on animals, the subsections include information about animal skeletons, animal movement, animal senses, homes and habitats, and the food chain. Part three is the largest part of the book and highlights wildlife habitats around the world. Each subchapter features a different habitat or biome and the plants and animals that live there. Gorgeous color photographs generously fill the pages. The captions are detailed and informative. The back matter contains a glossary, an extensive index, and a list of related web sites.

David Burnie is an accomplished zoologist who was a nature reserve ranger before becoming a natural history author and editor. A prolific writer of many books, including several on dinosaurs, he has seen many of his titles win educational awards and science prizes. His titles for Kingfisher include Kingfisher Knowledge: Endangered Planet and The Kingfisher Illustrated Dinosaur Encyclopedia, which was nominated for the Aventis Prize for Science Books in 2002.