With an urgent call to save elephants from extinction, this attractive photo-essay in the Earth's Endangered Animals series combines close-up photos of elephants in the wild in Africa and Asia with facts about their habitat, anatomy, behavior, and life cycle. Kalman then focuses on the dangers that threaten the animals, especially loss of their habitat and poaching. The picture of piles of tusks to be sold for their precious ivory tells a heartbreaking story. A final page includes a few Web sites for readers who want to find out more about saving the animals and their environment. Others recent series titles consider the plight of leopards and chimpanzees.

Gr 3-5-Each book briefly but clearly explains the animal's habitat, physical characteristics, life cycle, diet, and other topics of interest to report writers. Threats to survival and efforts to overcome the obstacles are also addressed. Full-color photos and an occasional diagram add visual interest and reinforce the points made in the texts. Unfortunately, there are no maps to show the location of current populations, a feature that would have been especially helpful in Elephants. Dan Bortolotti's Panda Rescue (Firefly, 2003) and Jane Goodall's The Chimpanzees I Love (Scholastic, 2001) offer more in-depth considerations of conservation efforts related to those animals. However, the Crabtree books provide basic introductions to their respective animals.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.