Welcome to the World of Snakes

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

Eye-catching, glossy covers entice the young reader to discover “the
world of” coyotes, sharks, snakes, and squirrels in these
eight-inch-square, softcover books. Each book contains seven chapters;
featured at the end is a highlighted section of myths, history, and
true-life stories about the animal’s world. On each double-page
spread, photographs appear on left-hand pages, text on the right.

The text is highly informative and, though the vocabulary may challenge
some young readers, many contextual explanations are included. All
chapter titles cleverly include “world”: “World of Difference,”
“Where in the World,” “World Full of Food,” and “New World”
are common to each volume; “World of Motion,” “World of Senses”
(sharks, snakes), “Toothy World” (sharks) , “World of Words,”
“Small World,” “Fun World” (coyotes) are specific to some.
Catchy captions in the highlighted sections (“Wild Racers, Snakes,”
“Shark Smarts,” “Three Cheeps for Coyotes!”), plus many
full-color, real-life photographs, give readers an entertaining way of
learning about coyotes, sharks, snakes, and squirrels. Highly
recommended.