CHRISTOPERSON, Sara Cohen Top 50 Reasons to Care About Marine Turtles: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3455-6 . LC 2009010555. CHRISTOPERSON, Sara Cohen Top 50 Reasons to Care About Whales and Dolphins: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3453-2 . LC 2008048695. FIRESTONE, Mary Top 50 Reasons to Care About Elephants: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3454-9 . LC 2008048690. FIRESTONE, Mary Top 50 Reasons to Care About Giant Pandas: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3451-8 . LC 2008048953. FIRESTONE, Mary Top 50 Reasons to Care About Rhinos: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3457-0 . LC 2008048692. FIRESTONE, Mary Top 50 Reasons to Care About Tigers: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3452-5 . LC 2008048689. HIRSCH, Rebecca E. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears: Animals in Peril ISBN 978-0-7660-3458-7 . LC 2008048693. ea vol: 104p. (Top 50 Reasons to Care About Endangered Animals Series). maps. photos. reprods. further reading. glossary. index. notes. Web sites. CIP. Enslow 2010. PLB $31.93. Gr 5-8 These books describe how animals such as rhinos, whose overall population (25,000 plus) seems healthy enough, are threatened by serious depletions to some subspecies. Not all of the 50 reasons for the animals peril are necessarily compelling, but the format is an effective and efficient way to organize facts about them and the dangers they face. The books vary in tone, sometimes focusing on the threat to the animal ( Tigers ) and sometimes on its value and talents ( Great Apes ). The color photographs are of a high quality, although the layout is bland and sometimes seems unfinished, particularly when one of the 50 reasons is brief and leaves too much white space on the page. Also, numerous rescue and protection agencies are mentioned sporadically but there is no comprehensive list of them. Overall, though, this is a solid series, and students might be surprised to discover so many complex and varied reasons behind the struggle to save some of the planets most at-risk creatures.

Information about each animal is divided into fifty sections, each with a sensationalized title (e.g., "Reason to Care #41: Poaching Can Be Stopped"). Though not always well captioned, plenty of photos accompany the generally solid information, which includes descriptions of relevant subspecies and suggestions on how to "help save" the animal. There are four other spring 2010 books in this series. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.