Walking Catfish

Gr 4-6 Each volume begins with an exciting, true-life story of humans encountering these creatures in unexpected places. The books continue with too-brief sections describing life cycle, diet, natural habitat, and natural predators, and then focus on how each animal has moved to a new habitat (thanks to humans) and turned into an invasive species there. The clear but slightly dry narratives are surrounded by ample white space, and each page features large, sharp, color photographs of creatures or their habitats. Some of the photos (such as one of a sunset on an Australian beach in “Spotted Jellyfish”) are extraneous. Inset boxes with captions such as “21st Century Content” and “Life and Career Skills” discuss recent developments (including scientists’ new, more accurate term for jellyfishsea jellies) and related careers, and are intended to further classroom discussion. These books will be good jumping-off points for research, but children will need more in-depth materials in order to really learn about the animals. Denise Schmidt, San Francisco Public Library, CA Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc..

Straightforward texts examine four exotic animal species that have invaded the United States and/or its territories; all but the sea lamprey are on The Invasive Species Specialist Group’s list of the world’s 100 worst offenders. Each title first presents basic facts about the featured animals and then concisely describes how, when, and where they were transported; the nature of the ecological damage they have caused (for instance, brown treesnakes have overrun Guam, wiping out dozens of native bird and lizard species and causing numerous power blackouts by climbing onto live electrical wires); and efforts to eradicate, or at least control, them. Sidebars offer miscellaneous facts about the subjects and related species; problems with introducing predators into affected ecosystems to control the pests; the global ramifications of invasive species, etc. Clear color photographs, most of which are close-ups, accompany the texts on about every other page. Each title also includes a world map shaded to indicate the animals’ native range and the invaded areas. These titles provide report writers with in-depth and up-to-date information on these invaders and the serious problems they cause.

—Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public Library