Manatees

April 1, 2010
Grades 1-3 Its hard not to be taken in by that big gray lump of flesh staring out from the cover of this volume in the Eye to Eye with Endangered Species series. The manateeall 10 feet and 1,300 pounds of itis the kind of animal that appears cute or repulsive, depending on the angle of photography, and this books biggest scores come from its large, patient portraits of the slow and studious animal. McKenzie begins by relaying the old chestnut about manatees being the likeliest candidate for the mermaids sighted by sailors long ago. This dubious start quickly segues into the nuts and bolts that make up the heart of school papers: where do they live, how do they communicate, and so forth. A lackluster design and poorly chosen fonts give the entire affair the feel of going through the motions. Thankfully, the information and pictures are solid, the brief chapter on endangered species is interesting, and the glossary (featuring estuaries, herbivores, and prehensile) is unusually robust.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)