Booklist
Gr. 3-5. Raccoon is part of the Wild America series; Giraffes is part of the Wild Africa series.They have exactly the same attractive, compact photo-essay design, with big color pictures and detailed text on every page. They work very well together, but, of course, each title stands alone: the towering giraffe in central and southern Africa and the small raccoon commonly found in backyards in the U.S. may both be wild animals, but they are different in where and how they live and in their relations with humans. The Leesons' photographs in Giraffes are splendid, with close-up views (including one showing two giraffes rubbing their necks together in a kind of hug) as well as pictures of the tallest of all land creatures loping across the grassland. In Raccoon the photos are from several sources, and some text is printed on the photos, which makes it hard to read. Both books are packed with information in short chapters on the animals' social lives, anatomy, feeding, mating, and more. Hazel Rochman
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