Predators and Prey (Secrets of the Rainforest) - Softcover

Chinery, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0778702278 ISBN 13: 9780778702276

Publisher: Crabtree Pub Co, 2000

Synopsis

Describes some of the many different animals, from anteaters to the great cats, that prey on other creatures in rainforests.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Taken from Chapter 6: Tree-top Carnivores Big Eyes and Sharp Ears Most forest cats hunt at night, but even those that hunt in the daytime need big eyes to spot their prey in the dark, leafy rainforest. They also have excellent hearing and a good sense of smell. When they have spotted their prey, the cats slink quietly and slowly towards it and then pounce on it when they get close enough. They eat almost anything they can catch, but birds and small mammals, including monkeys, make up most of their food.

END

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-8-Two books with lively informative texts and colorful photographs. However, each double-page spread has four to five eye-catching pictures that vary in size and sometimes overlap, making it occasionally difficult to find the right caption for the corresponding picture, and hard to tell which animals live in a specific rainforest. Poisoners begins by telling readers that rainforests "grow in wet parts of the world, particularly in the tropics around the equator where it is hot all year round and it rains almost every day," but readers are clueless as to their specific locations until they come to the small map in the glossary section. The text then provides basic, clear information on topics such as venomous versus poisonous animals, mimicry and camouflage, natural selection, and adaptation to the environment, while showing examples of spiders, centipedes, arrow-poison frogs, snakes, and other creatures that are protected by such defense mechanisms. Predators defines rainforests as "dense evergreen forests that receive at least 80 inches (2 meters) of rain each year." It goes on to discuss herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. In a simple, straightforward manner, it also explains how predators capture their prey-ambush, chasing and trapping, etc. There is little information in these titles that overlaps and therefore libraries need to buy both titles for students doing reports. Stephen Savage's Animals of the Rainforest (RSVP, 1997) is for a younger audience but has better maps and more details about specific animals.
Dona J. Helmer, College Gate School Library, Anchorage, AK
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Crabtree Pub Co
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0778702278
• ISBN 13: 9780778702276
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32