Gr. 2-4. The writer and illustrator of Flashy Fantastic Rainforest Frogs (1997) and Colorful Captivating Coral Reefs (2003) spotlight big cats in their latest highly illustrated animal book. After mentioning the physical features and behaviors common to all or most big cats, the book looks more closely at the lion, leopard, cheetah, tiger, snow leopard, cougar, and jaguar. Patent writes with clarity, economy, and a knack for finding apt descriptions. Discussing the size of tigers, she explains that the male of even the smallest species, the Sumatran tiger, weighs "as much as 300 pounds, the size of a professional football player." Though occasionally awkward in their depiction of the cats, the watercolor paintings clearly represent the animals in their habitats. A typical double-page spread introduces a single species with a couple of paragraphs of text, a fast-facts sidebar, a small map indicating worldwide range, and one or two large paintings of the animals in action or repose. Cats on maps appear on the endpapers.
CarolynPhelan.
