The Nature's Children series welcomes some cute, slithery, and disgusting creatures into its ranks with these new titles. Each book begins with a Fact File page, detailing the featured animal's scientific classification, habitat, and defining characteristics. Then five short chapters discuss the animals' physical features, dominant senses, modes of defense, and reproduction, as well as their family trees and relationships with humans. Every spread has a full-page color illustration of the animal, though occasionally photos get a little too close and details or a sense of scale are lost. Black Mambas takes on this incredibly deadly snake, explaining that its name derives from the black inside of its mouth rather than its skin color. Its importance in controlling rodent populations is also pointed out. Good starting points for basic reports.

GREGORY, Josh . Hedgehogs . ISBN 9780531213902 . GREGORY, Josh . Moose . ISBN 9780531213933 . GREGORY, Josh . Sloths . ISBN 9780531213919 . MARSICO, Katie . Leeches . ISBN 9780531213940 . MARSICO, Katie . Lice . ISBN 9780531213957 . ea vol: 48p. (Nature's Children). further reading. glossary. index. maps. photos. Children's Pr. 2015. lib. ed. $28. Gr 3-5 These additions to this ongoing series follow a tried-and-true format: text on one page facing a full-page photo. An opening "Fact File" breaks down info such as taxonomy, habits, habitats, and diets and provides a preview for the information that will be covered. Five chapters are broken down into several single-page sections. The first chapter depicts an encounter with the animal and describes a typical behavior. The rest of the book delves further into the topics brought up in the "Fact File." Sophisticated scientific terms such as bilateral symmetry or anticoagulant are often defined in-text. "Fun Fact" boxes are scattered throughout, and photos are captioned but not labeled. Graphics include a size comparison to an average adult and a range map (the map in Moose is inaccurate). VERDICT Those researching animals will find these offerings helpful.