Dragonflies

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-- This smoothly written, well-organized introduction examines the life cycle of the dragonfly and its close relative, the damselfly. Clear, color photographs accompany the text on all but a few pages; they depict approximately two dozen species, most of which can be found in the U. S. Captions identify them by common names; a page of ``Photo Acknowledgments'' includes the scientific names of most species shown. Photographs are well coordinated with the text and most are of excellent quality, although a few showing newly hatched nymphs are blurred. The text, however, omits some important information. It fails to identify the order to which both insects belong, neglects to explain that the insects' young undergo an `` incomplete metamorphosis,'' and includes few scientific terms. It does include more information on damselflies and depicts a greater number of species in its photographs than Overbeck's Dragonflies (Lerner, 1982). Overbeck's title provides more data on the insects' anatomy and includes more scientific terms. Many of its excellent color photographs are greatly magnified closeups. Simon's Dragonflies (Viking, 1972; o.p.) and O'Toole's Dragonfly Over the Water (Gareth Stevens, 1988) cover much of the same information as the McLaughlin and Overbeck titles, but have more difficult vocabularies and less attractive formats. McLaughlin's book is a useful additional title. --Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library