Slither and Crawl: Eye to Eye with Reptiles by Jim Arnosky

Another winner from Arnosky, this book offers life-size drawings of reptiles.  The pages even fold-out for those really large animals.  In between the detailed pictures that will have everyone oo-ing and ah-ing, Arnosky offers some great scientific facts tempered nicely with personal anecdotes.  These more scientific passages are also illustrated with a facing page in color and pencil drawings surrounding the text.  Then you unfold the page to see the life-size reptiles nice and close.  Beware the sea turtles.  I nearly dropped the book much to my son’s delight.

Any fan of animals or reptiles will adore this book.  It is appropriate for a wide-range of ages with younger children enjoying the pictures and older children finding engrossing details too.  Arnosky completes the book by admitting he is afraid of snakes and a little afraid of all reptiles, but that doesn’t stop him from admiring them.  A wonderful cap on a book that will entice reptile lovers and others to take a look.

A great book for any library, this one will slither quickly off the shelves.  The fold-out pages are sturdy and if worried you could reinforce the folds with some tape.  Recommended for ages 4-8.