Black Spiny-Tailed Iguana: Lizard Lightning! by Natalie Lunis

by Natalie Lunis
Blink of an Eye: Superfast Animals series
Bearport Publishing
978-1-936087-91-4
Review copy from publisher.

Yes, okay, it has been a while. We took a small, unplanned break - of two weeks! In between out of town guests and birthdays and relatives in the hospital, we were still reading, but we devoted some time to series we needed to catch up on - the Eldest series is great, but the internet world really doesn't need one more review of them!

Now it's time to dive into some of the shiny new books that have been beckoning to us from the corners of our desk. This first one we found fascinating because, let's face it, turtles are not thought of as terribly fast. Oh, we can scoot along pretty quickly if we want to, on land or in water, but we prefer to take our time or just hang around under the heat lamp, not moving at all. At any rate, we will never be any match for a greyhound or a cheetah!

This entry in the series is at least another reptile - the fastest reptile in the world! Black spiny-tailed iguanas can run almost 22 miles an hour; faster than most people, and much faster than the alligators they are sometimes mistaken for. They are big guys, up to four feet long! They don't need to chase their food (plants), but they do need to run to escape their predators. Personally, we think anything that big and tough-looking should need to run from anyone.

Many other interesting facts are presented in a kid-friendly (think upper elementary) manner. Each two-page spread has a few paragraphs of information with smaller pictures/charts/graphs opposite a larger, close-up photo. The photographs are very clear and attractive. The back includes an illustrated glossary, an index, and an internet link to find more information.

These look like they will be a great addition to the shelves, and we plan to order the rest of the series.

Nonfiction Monday: Where Else in the Wild by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy, reviewed by Squirt

Review copy provided by Tricycle Press.

I'm new here, but the name "David Schwartz" sounded familiar, so I looked it up in our card catalogue. Dang! He sure gets around the 5 and 600's, doesn't he? Anybody who spends a lot of time writing about animals is okay in my book. The only other book we have by Yael Schy is the predecessor to this one (Where in the Wild), but she has made a good impression.

Dwight Kuhn completes the team again with some GORGEOUS photos, each containing a camouflaged animal of some sort. The pictures give you a lot to look at themselves, even without searching for the hidden critters, but kids will undoubtedly enjoy being the first to spot them. For those adults with older eyes (and to be honest, I had a REALLY hard time spotting the scorpionfish), you can then flip open the page to get the answers, as well as some cool facts and more pictures. Giving you a clue as to what you are looking for we have fun poems, some concrete (I love those) written by Ms. Schy. All in all a delightful book, which just leaves us with one problem: where do we put it??? Poetry? Picture books? Nonfiction under camouflage> Or should we just buy three copies and spread them out?