Aquatic Life Exploring the world of

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the ocean depths to river rapids, fascinating aquatic life can be found in all climates and settings. Geared toward young students, the fresh, new ""Exploring the World of Aquatic Life"" set is packed with information, naturalistic artwork, helpful maps, and stunning full-color photography intended to illustrate key life-science principles while providing thorough information on the fish, mammals, and invertebrates that live a largely aquatic life. Each book in this informative six-volume set looks at the natural history of aquatic life-forms, arranged in alphabetical order. In addition to discovering the many ways in which particular types of creatures hunt, feed, breed, and defend themselves, young readers will also learn about topics such as adaptation, ecology, genetics, communication, conservation, endangered species, and habitats.This title contains, ""Volume 1: American Paddlefish - Clown Loach"", ""Volume 2: Cockles and Clams - Electric Rays"",""Volume 3: Fangtooths - Lionfish and Scorpionfish"", ""Volume 4: Lizardfish - Puffers"", ""Volume 5: Ragworms - Soles"", and ""Volume 6: Sperm Whales - Wrasses"".

Excerpt provided by Syndetics

From the ocean depths to river rapids, fascinating aquatic life can be found in all climates and settings. Geared toward young students, the six-volume Exploring the World of Aquatic Life set is packed with information, naturalistic artwork, helpful maps, and stunning full-color photography intended to illustrate key life-science principles while providing thorough information on the fish, mammals, and invertebrates that live a largely aquatic life. Each volume looks at the natural history of aquatic life-forms, arranged in alphabetical order. In addition to discovering the many ways in which particular types of creatures hunt, feed, breed, and defend themselves, young readers will also learn about topics such as adaptation, ecology, genetics, communication, conservation, endangered species, and habitats.Key features include: Illustrated family trees for fish, whales and dolphins, and aquatic invertebrates Overview articles in each volume detailing various species' similarities and family groups "Fact File" sidebars providing in-depth information on a particular animal or group "Did You Know?" sidebars presenting interesting and little-known facts. Coverage includes: Volume 1: American Paddlefish--Clown Loach Volume 2: Cockles and Clams--Electric Rays Volume 3: Fangtooths--Lionfish and Scorpionfish Volume 4: Lizardfish--Puffers Volume 5: Ragworms--Soles Volume 6: Sperm Whales--Wrasses. This colorful, engaging set makes a fine companion to Exploring the World of Mammals and Exploring the World of Reptiles and Amphibians, and is sure to captivate young readers with its exciting descriptions of life in the Earth's oceans, seas, and other bodies of water. Excerpted from Exploring the World of Aquatic Life All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

School Library Journal Review

Gr 4-8-With its colorful photos, pleasant drawings, and plentiful sidebars, this exploration of numerous freshwater and marine creatures is attractive. A closer look reveals anomalies in organization, mainly caused by the set's alphabetical arrangement. For example, Atlantic salmon have a private niche in volume one and sockeye salmon surface in volume five, but there is no general entry for salmon. "Whales and Dolphins" is a section in volume six, but individual species pop up for air all over. Entries cover a spread and include a "Fact File" that lists the species' Latin name and its classification, the characteristics of its habitat, size, coloration, diet, breeding patterns, endangered status, and, in some cases, life span. The narrative portion of some entries is scientifically informative while in others it is merely chatty (material on the clown loach, for example, falls into the latter category). Coverage can be puzzling-a long spiel about malaria in the article on single-celled life, while informative, will leave readers wondering how the first mosquito picked up Plasmodium to start the cycle. Each volume contains an identical introduction, and family trees for invertebrates, and for fish and mammals (sirenians and cetaceans only). Each volume contains its own index, with a set index residing in the final volume. Browsable, but not essential.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

The newest addition to the Exploring the World of . . . series Exploring the World of Mammals (2008) and Exploring the World of Reptiles and Amphibians (2009) offers an introduction to the diversity of animals that inhabit oceans, rivers, and lakes. Each volume begins with an Introducing Aquatic Life section as well as graphic representations of the Invertebrate Family Tree and the Fish and Mammalian Family Tree. The front matter includes a brief introduction to aquatic invertebrates, fish, and mammals as well as a guide to the arrangement of the set. The introduction also provides details about the World Conservation Union. Entries are arranged alphabetically from American paddlefish to Wrasses. The majority of the entries deal with a specific species, but there are also broader overview entries that introduce a large group of animals, such as Crustaceans or Whales and dolphins. Such entries are noted in bold in the table of contents. All of the volumes offer a volume-specific table of contents, and volumes 1-5 offer a volume-specific index. Volume 6 includes a comprehensive set index. Each of the more than 100 articles features a Fact File sidebar that explains the animal's family and order as well as its habitat, size, coloration, diet, breeding, and status according to the World Conservation Union. In general, entries range in length from two to six pages. Additional boxed areas provide a more detailed examination of certain subjects, while Did You Know? boxes offer unusual or interesting facts. A color-coded band that appears at the top of each two-page spread indicates the general group of animals in which the subject is placed. The layout is bright and appealing. Large photographs and illustrations appear on every two-page spread, while highlighted annotations add to the text. Each of the volumes concludes with a glossary and a listing of further resources that includes both books and Web sites. With its large typeface, clear explanations, and open layout, this set will appeal to younger students and would be a useful addition to school and public libraries.--Ostergard, Maren Copyright 2009 Booklist