Nonfiction Monday: City Critters: Wildlife in the urban jungle by Nicholas Read

This new book is by the co-author of The Salmon Bears and The Sea Wolves, both awesome nonfiction books about the amazing wildlife of the Great Bear Rainforest. As you can tell from the title, this book is a little more urban.

Each chapter looks at a different type of animal and shows which species have evolved to live in an urban setting. We see animals that everyone thinks of like rats, raccoons, pigeons, cockroaches, butterflies, and seagulls and some that might be surprising; cougars, moose, sea lions, alligators, and herons.

The final chapter discusses what people can do to help the wildlife in their urban area. There is also a glossary, resources, and index. Each chapter, in addition to the main text, includes lots of photographs and insets with additional information about the various animals, scientific information, and stories about animals in urban settings.

I found the final chapter to be somewhat disorganized. The author is obviously passionate about wildlife and concerned about humans encroaching on their environment, but the chapter seems to jump around a lot and some things, like feeding hummingbirds in the winter and not the spring, aren't explained.

Verdict: Other than my minor quibbles with the final chapter, this is a really good overview of urban wildlife in North America. It's a fascinating read for both children and adults and with the interesting, brisk pace of the text, lots of photographs, and clear, simple glossary this will be a favorite for animal lovers and kids looking for a subject for reports. I'm really kicking myself that I didn't get around to reading it until it was too late to nominate for Cybils!

ISBN: 9781554693948; Published 2012 by Orca; Borrowed from another library in our consortium; Added to the library's order list