Animaze - Hardcover

Kindergarten-Grade 3-- A collection of mazes that explores worldwide habitats including swamplands, jungles, rivers, deserts, and a coral reef. The high - quality illustrations have clear, rich colors, and the animals are realistically depicted and naturally blended into the scenery. Some are cleverly camouflaged and others are quite small, but the sharp eyes of those trained on ``Waldo'' books will have no difficulty if they examine the pictures closely. A facing page of text gives necessary directions to locate a creature attempting to find its way through territory filled with natural barriers and enemies. The book concludes with black-and-white diagrams of the correct path for each maze with a correlated key naming the animal, accompanied by brief information. This is a book that both informs and entertains, and one that may motivate readers to seek out more detailed information about particular animals and their native environments. It's best for use on a one-to-one basis, perhaps with an adult reading the text as the child explores the maze. --Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this cleverly conceived, richly illustrated book, 12 habitats--from Australian bush to Arctic tundra, the North American river, Southeast Asian swampland and African savanna--teem with exotic and familiar animals all trying to get somewhere. Salmon must swim upstream through rockfalls and past bears and ospreys; squirrel monkeys--salivating for guava fruit--edge along branches holding screaming toucans, sleeping ocelots and alert jaguars. Each maze presents a distinctive sense of place and community that leaves the reader appreciative of the variety of our planet's environments. While its concept is unusually imaginative and its illustrations beautifully rendered, this book requires a sophisticated perception of two-dimensionality that younger readers may lack. Still, older maze-crazed youngsters tired of humdrum games may find these a challenge. Although the volume of information may swamp all but the most curious and tenacious, answer keys and "nature notes" to each puzzle will help adults to mediate. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.