The Planet's Most Extreme - Jumpers (The Planet's Most Extreme) (Board book)

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6–Each volume in this set presents a countdown of 10 animals selected because they exemplify the characteristic noted in the book's title. The commentary sounds like that offered on extreme-sports television shows, with a breathless, "gee whiz" quality. Of the four pages devoted to photos of and information about each featured animal, at least a paragraph or two draws parallels with humans. Sometimes these digressions take up nearly as much space as the writing about the animal. For example, the entry on the eagle, contender number six in Strength, also talks about the Starlifter freight plane and the production of adrenaline in humans. In Thinkers, Albert Einstein rates a paragraph in the discussion of snow monkeys' problem-solving capabilities. The book with the highest potential gross-out appeal is Births, with its photographs of a queen naked mole rat, tapeworms in jars, and the giant termite queen, and discussions of topics such as the kiwi's ability to lay enormous eggs. Don't expect these titles to offer much curriculum support or serve as report resources. Consider purchase where there is extreme need for titles that attract browsers or reluctant readers.– Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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Product Description
A rabbit can jump a distance of ten times its body length, and a kangaroo could win the Olympic 100-meter sprint in a time of 4 seconds! But neither the rabbit nor the kangaroo comes in at number one in this countdown. Find out who does, and how human hoppers compare to the planet's most extreme hurdlers.