Poisoners and Pretenders

Nancy W. Dixon is an elementary-school English teacher with the
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

“Rainforests have a greater variety of plants and animals than
anywhere else on earth.” They hold miracles of nature that few are
privileged to see firsthand. The Secrets of the Rainforest series draws
the reader into that mysterious world of life and death beneath the
rainforest canopy, exploring the unique relationships that exist between
plants and animals within the rainforest.

Partners and Parents explains how animal “families” use their
surroundings in the creation of new generations. Plants and Planteaters
describes how the rainforest ecosystem is sustained by its inhabitants.
Poisoners and Pretenders looks at how rainforest inhabitants protect
themselves. Predators and Prey deals with rainforest hunters and their
hunting practices.

Readers will wonder at the ability of the strangler fig to smother an
entire tree or at the potoo that uses camouflage to “stump” its
predators. Magnificent color photographs throughout the books, such as
those that bring life to the unnatural hue of the blue poison-arrow frog
and the flowerlike camouflage of the orchid mantis, add visual
understanding to the highly informative text. Words appearing in bold
type in the text, such as scientific terms like “cold-blooded,”
“predators,” and “bromeliads,” are clearly explained in a
glossary at the back of each book.

This engrossing series takes readers on a stimulating and informative
voyage into a mysterious tropical world. It also draws attention to the
worldwide importance of preserving rainforest species and habitat, and
to the rainforest’s continuing destruction by humankind. Each of the
books features a list of agencies (with addresses) that work to conserve
the world’s rainforests. Highly recommended.