Rhino

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6Engaging introductions that provide basic facts about two familiar animals, both in captivity and in the wild. Lion includes many fascinating facts about the social behavior of the pride. Information about the harsh realities of life in the wild, where fewer than half of the cubs born ever reach adulthood, are described. While the lions featured here live in a wild animal park in Oregon, Arnold carefully compares and contrasts the monitored life of these captive beasts with the free-roaming lions in Africa. Excellent full-color photos highlight every page of text, illustrating descriptions of behaviors and offering closeups of anatomical features. Although Rhino focuses primarily on the white rhinoceros, the black, Indian, Javan, and Sumatran species are described. The opening photos of Shimba, a three-week-old white rhino from the Edinburgh Zoo, quickly lure browsers into the accompanying text. Current data about wild populations and efforts to preserve these endangered creatures, both in captivity and in the wild, are also presented. Gloria G. Schlaepfer and Mary Lou Samuelson's The African Rhinoceros (Dillon, 1992) also covers the habits of the two species of African rhino, but omits detailed information about the three Asian species.Barbara B. Murphy, Shaler Area School District Libraries, Pittsburgh