Hirsch, Rebecca E. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears

Hirsch, Rebecca E. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears:
Enslow 2010 104p 31.93 978-0-7660-3458-7
elm/ms Endangered polar bears VG-BNe Top 50 Reasons to Care About Endangered Animals


An overview and interesting facts about the largest North American endangered species. Readers are given 50 reasons to care about the species, and specific things that they can do to help.
How better to entice readers to care about polar bears than to illustrate the cover with a winsome photo of a polar bear cub. After a brief overview of polar bears, the author goes on to detail 50 reasons why readers should care about the endangered animals. While most of the “reasons” contain solid factual information about climate change, human hunting or habitat deterioration, but some are stretching the topic a little, such as “#34: Polar Bear Art is Beautiful,” or “#37: Zoos Teach People About Polar Bears.”
The photos are beautiful, and present the bears in their natural habitat, while a map displays the range of the species. The last "Reason to Care" includes specific activities that kids can do to help. Also included are a glossary, bibliographical references and an index. A very useful, and information-packed addition to animal research libraries at upper elementary and middle schools. Naismith, Pat

Hammond, Paul. Atlas of Endangered Animals.

Hammond, Paul. Atlas of Endangered Animals.
Marshall Cavendish/Benchmark 2010 224p 99.93 978-0-7614-7872-0 ms/hs This handsome book about endangered animals is divided by continent and includes entries that cover fifty different animals. Arranged alphabetically within each continent, the book is a very visually appealing guide to these animals with beautiful full-color drawings, illustrations, and maps enhancing the text. The book begins with an introduction that quantifies the number of animals at risk. It continues with a brief description of each continent and a discussion of the chosen animals. It provides discussions about the animals that depict territory, migration, defense, camouflage, food, conservation, communication, and reproduction and includes a map of their habitat area. Each entry includes key facts and statistics that students might need for research. Arranged alphabetically within each continent, the book is a very visually appealing guide to these animals with beautiful full-color drawings, illustrations, photographs, and maps enhancing the text. The content is well-organized and clearly written with attractive page layouts. The entries also contain comparisons to similar animals. The book ends with an index. While it would not be a book that is read from cover to cover, it is a good source for both researching and browsing and may lead to further research. Ogintz, Susan