Anteaters, Sloths, and Armadillos

This is a fine starter series for kids interested studying different animals. Anteaters, Sloths, and Armadillos is our most recent adventure with the wonderful and interesting Animals in Order series...what can I say, my kids just can't get enough of these! What I like a great deal about this is that it takes time at the beginning of the book to look at (briefly) what makes an animal a xenarthrans, specifically getting into what traits exactly make a xenarthran (when roughly translates into strange joint). The book then goes into the "order" of living things which details the kingdom, phylum and class , order, family and species (with a handy visual chart for reference, great for younger kids, so they can SEE how it works rather than just read it or have it read to them). This is one of the better features of this series. Next the text goes specifically into where xenarthrans fit into animal kingdom, breaking it down (in words and pictures again) to kingdom (animal), phylum (chordate), class (mammal) and order (xenarthran). The book also talks a bit about where anteaters, sloths, and armadillos of all types and sizes fit into food chain and in habitats. Anteaters, Sloths, and Armadillos goes from there into an overview of fifteen species complete with full page, color photographs for each one, which really serve to bring the information to life. This section includes Family, Common Example, Genus and Species and Size for each animal discussed and each animal is given one full page for written description and one full page COLOR photo...excellent for fully engaging the reader! Animals included here are the giant anteater, southern tamandua, two-toes sloth, pale-throated three-toed sloth, nine-banded armadillo, pichi and more! Overall, a fantastic way to introduce various types of artiodactyls to your curious young reader! What you get in Anteaters, Sloths, and Armadillos is an excellent overview of all types of zenarthrans. Additionally, at the end of the book are several pages of fun facts about sloths, anteaters and armadillos. As always with this series, I was pleased to find that at the end of the book the author/publisher also included a short recommended reading list and some really great web pages to do more research on...the kids in particular LOVED this! The books in this series would make a wonderful addition to a classroom library or as gifts for your favorite young reader who has a passion for animals; the information here is scientifically presented, accented with wonderful color photos and is both interesting and informative!