National Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians: North America (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

I bought this book for my 7 year old son last Christmas and it has been by his side ever since (he even sleeps with it). The great pictures for each reptile and amphibian listed help him determine which one he has caught in our back yard. The neighborhood kids consider my son "the expert" on reptiles and amphibians and seek him out whenever they catch one. The biographies are very good and have US maps shaded in telling where the animal can be found. A definate purchase.

This guide is the best to use for identification, for nearly half the book is made up of bright, clear pictures that enables precise identification. The guide also has sufficient taxonomy, although it is slightly outdated. If one desires range maps, I highly suggest the Peterson guide. The Audubon maps only show the basic region.

My son became fascinated with reptiles and amphibians at around age 4. This book has helped us both tremendously to understand and identify creatures all around us. We have devoured books of all types at our local library and we keep coming back to this one. The pictures are fabulous and easy enough for a child to use. The text is informative and well presented. My son will be thrilled to find this book under the Christmas tree this year!

The photos which illustrate this book are organized in such a way that one does not have to be familiar with reptiles and amphibians to make resonably accurate field identifications. For instance, the photographs of striped snakes are grouped together so that you can easily check for that matches the animal you have found.The text and range map section gives much valuable information as to habitat and behavior as well as breeding and the size of neonates as well as adults.

This book contains 657 full color pictures of over 470 species of reptiles and amphibians in North America. It covers from habitat locations to breeding and feeding. This is a must for any child or adult who is interested in our native animals.