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Synopsis
Describes some of the many different animals, from anteaters to the great cats, that prey on other creatures in rainforests.
School Library Journal
Gr 5-8-Two books with lively informative texts and colorful photographs. However, each double-page spread has four to five eye-catching pictures that vary in size and sometimes overlap, making it occasionally difficult to find the right caption for the corresponding picture, and hard to tell which animals live in a specific rainforest. Poisoners begins by telling readers that rainforests "grow in wet parts of the world, particularly in the tropics around the equator where it is hot all year round and it rains almost every day," but readers are clueless as to their specific locations until they come to the small map in the glossary section. The text then provides basic, clear information on topics such as venomous versus poisonous animals, mimicry and camouflage, natural selection, and adaptation to the environment, while showing examples of spiders, centipedes, arrow-poison frogs, snakes, and other creatures that are protected by such defense mechanisms. Predators defines rainforests as "dense evergreen forests that receive at least 80 inches (2 meters) of rain each year." It goes on to discuss herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. In a simple, straightforward manner, it also explains how predators capture their prey-ambush, chasing and trapping, etc. There is little information in these titles that overlaps and therefore libraries need to buy both titles for students doing reports. Stephen Savage's Animals of the Rainforest (RSVP, 1997) is for a younger audience but has better maps and more details about specific animals.-Dona J. Helmer, College Gate School Library, Anchorage, AK Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.