Camels

Gr 1-3--After leading with an engaging fact about the featured animal, each book covers body, habitat, food, and life cycle in a brief, succinct fashion. Sentences are clear and short, with vocabulary that is manageable for the audience: "Some iguanas live in water. Others live on land. Some people keep them as pets." The content is focused on the animals rather than the desert environment. Iguanas and chameleons are surprising choices for the series, though there are desert-dwelling species of both. Photographs are of decent quality and used with varied effectiveness. Rattlesnakes, for example, features engaging close-ups of the rattle and fangs but none of babies or skin, which are referred to in the text. Other examples of well-chosen photos can be found in Chameleons and Cobras, whereas Camels and Komodo Dragons each fall a bit short. Clear range maps are neatly set against photos of the terrain, though the images are not all clearly desert habitats. Size comparison charts are of limited use owing to inconsistent scale.