Rather than delivering the basics, like lions, tigers, and bears, these volumes in the continuing Living Wild series focus on some of the planet's less understood yet often more intriguing animals. Geared for both the browsing reader and serious student, the oversize books blend detailed information with engaging sidebar facts and numerous high-quality color photos, many of which are full page. Each title presents an overview of the species as well as its physical characteristics, habitat, food sources, defense mechanisms, mating, care for its young, and special qualities that make it unusual or unique. Sloths describes how this slow-moving animal earns its name both anecdotally and scientifically. All of the books consider how the animal has been represented in religion, literature, art, and popular media and even include a short folktale or myth related to the creature. Perhaps most important is how the series addresses threats, particularly human impact, to the survival of these species. Whether weird, beautiful, or simply adorable, this series has its animals covered.

Gr 1-3-- Illustrated in bright, clear watercolors accented with pastels, this picture-book introduction could be used by beginning readers or as a read-aloud. The text is excellent, beginning with the fact that whales are air-breathing, warm-blooded mammals, and then outlining their variation in size and evolutionary history. Gibbons describes the two groups of whales--toothed and baleen--delineating their differences not only in physiology but also in behavior. Representative members of each group are pictured and given a one-or-two line description. Each drawing is labeled, and a helpful pronunciation guide accompanies difficult or unfamiliar words. Some of the illustrations, however, are overly cute and personified, with full, almost pouty, lower lips and facial expressions. The grinning belugas swimming around the blue whale are a little disconcerting. A one-page section called Whale Tales'' presents such factual tidbits asA blue whale eats about 4,400 pounds of krill a day'' and ``A sperm whale can dive down more than a half mile.'' An attractive additional purchase. --Frances E. Millhouser, Reston Regional Library, VA