Mountain Lions (Big Cats)

Christine Zuchora-Walske studied literature, communications, and publishing at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Denver. She has been writing books and magazine articles for 20 years. In addition to animal titles, she has written books on history and current events. Her books have made appearances on the IRA Teachers' Choice list and the NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students list.

Gr 3-5-Each book describes the physical characteristics, habitat, diet, predators, and prey of the featured cat, and the effect it has on the environment. The books also discuss the animals' approximate populations or nearness to extinction. The pages are well balanced with excellent photos, text, factual asides, maps, and the definitions of boldface words. The photographs were taken in the wild in the cats' natural habitat and include kills and skins. Similarities and differences among the types of cats are evident if children read more than one book in the series. Laws, poaching, illegal trafficking, and endangerment are discussed. In Mongolia there is a program for the protection of the snow leopards; it provides money to families who promise not to kill them. The money is generated from the sale of goods such as mittens, scarves, and yarn made by the families and sold for them in the United States. Perfect choices for reports.-Cynde Suite, Bartow County Library System, Adairsville, GAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.