The Seedlings: Wild Animals series, geared toward introducing new readers to the animal kingdom, adds a few more creatures to its ranks. With its clear layout and solid design, each volume provides rudimentary details about each animal, including facts on habitat, diets, the young, and evolutionary adaptations. The versatile, highly photogenic subject of Geckos boasts sticky toes and a tail that can regrow if it's detached. A table of contents offers chapter titles, though these headings don't appear on the pages themselves, and some volumes are more specific than others (geckos "live all around the world. But no geckos live in Antarctica"; whereas flamingos are only described as living "by warm, salty water"). Still, the glossy photographs steal the show, showing the animals in portraits and in action, and the straightforward text is well suited to beginning readers. A final photographic spread closes each volume with a labeled diagram of the featured animal, zooming in on details like scales and feathers.

This book in the attractive series provides basic facts about geckos, including their habitat, physical appearance, family relationships, diet, and behaviors. Spare text in large type and bright, eye-catching photos make the information accessible to new nonfiction readers. A concluding spread features an anatomically labeled photo and a couple of close-ups of specific features. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.