The Living Planet

David Attenborough is a global treasure. This exceedingly well-written and edited book (not one typo) is a perfect way to introduce young people to a more mature analysis of the natural world. The prose is precise and clear, the topics wide-ranging and detailed, and all the while, you hear Attenborough's voice narrating in your head. There are also pictures! Plenty of pictures! Pictures of crystalline angler-fish, and enormous whale sharks, and penguins, guanays, deserts, forests, insects, the Sears Tower, etc. They serve as a visual feast to accompany the text. A book like this cannot help but to instill knowledge and appreciation into the reader for the vast habitation we call Planet Earth.

This book reads just like a conversation and the photography is out of this world! I wish they would make some of the photos into poster form, they are so lovely. Of course, there are also the wierd looking animals and the ugly ones. All are so interesting. While you would think that it would be like reading a text-book, it is NOT! It's highly entertaining and immensely informative. I use mine as a coffee table book and I get so many comments on it!