Books

Out­size ani­mal feats are the focus here, with Mor­gan show­cas­ing crea­tures large and small that do incred­i­ble things: ele­phants can remem­ber a face for months, alli­ga­tors eat rocks, and hum­ming­birds con­sume the equiv­a­lent of half of their body weight per day. These tri­umphs and more are expressed in child-friend­ly com­par­isons, such as “that would be like a 40-pound kid eat­ing 20 serv­ings of spaghet­ti in one day!” As well as the main fact, which is briefly described in large text, each fac­ing page has an in depth descrip­tion of the ani­mal feat that pro­vides addi­tion­al sur­pris­es and some advanced vocab­u­lary. In addi­tion to a bat’s diet of up to 3,000 mos­qui­tos per night, the small­er-font text intro­duces echolo­ca­tion and dis­cuss­es how each bat has a unique voice. With nature-toned dig­i­tal illus­tra­tions, as well as the always pop­u­lar inclu­sion of a poop-relat­ed fact, this will intrigue fact-obsessed young read­ers. While the lack of notes or a bib­li­og­ra­phy lim­its its use for reports, this will like­ly be a com­pelling launch­pad for fur­ther research. (Book­list, Hen­ri­et­ta Thornton)