An overview of birds of prey.How to teach science in an accessible, nonintimidating way? The Science Comics series has it nailed. This latest offering presents a look at raptors, a family of birds that includes vultures, eagles, condors, hawks, and ospreys, among others. The organization of the material is stellar. In plenty of detail, none of it overwhelming, Flood discusses what raptors are, their evolution from dinosaurs, the physics of flight, raptor biology (for example, their eyes are huge for their body size and can't swivel in their skulls, and their feet and talons are specifically adapted to their preferred prey), nesting habits, how they catch prey, and the impact of human encroachment. Enlivening the information are full-color illustrations, accurate where they need to be and engagingly playful where they don't. The story's narrators, a brown-skinned Renaissance Faire reenactor falconer and a curious squirrel, guide readers through this fascinating worldwide journey that includes meeting John James Audubon, the 19th-century naturalist and painter known for his depictions of birds, and learning about Pale Male, the red-tailed hawk who has made his home on the ledge of a New York City apartment building for 30 years.A fun, fact-filled romp through the world of raptors. (glossary) (Nonfiction comic. 9-15)

Gr 47 Readers should be cautioned not to get too attached to the curious squirrel who serves as their stand-in for this graphic (in both senses of the word) introduction to raptors worldwide. A Renaissance Faire falconer in antique dress serves as lecturer and tour guideopening by feeding his Cooper's hawk a dead chick ("No need to be squeamish. She's just doing what nature intended."). Addressing the squirrel, he then goes on to dissect raptor ancestry and anatomy, families, feathers, and aerodynamic body design, as well as the dangers of pesticides and habitat destruction by humans. The falconer continues with explorations of these birds' prey and hunting strategies as flocks of modern exemplars, from the sparrow-sized black-thighed falconet to the 30-plus pound Andean condor, strike characteristic poses. Flood's standout bird portraits use saturated colors to make plumage patterns particularly vivid and sharply defined lines for painstakingly detailed beaks and talons. His avian subjects exude implacable focus and presence throughout. Following guest appearances by notable figures of various species, from Pale Male to John James Audubon and Hawk Mountain Sanctuary founder Rosalie Edge, the falconer closes with a technical overview of his chosen craft thatmay not end well for the squirrel. Oh well, "circle of life" as he puts it. VERDICT Feeds, in a frank but not gratuitously gory way, middle graders' hunger to learn more about some of the animal world's most fierce and splendid predators. John Peters