Customer Reviews

Camels and Pigs (Animals in Order)

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This is a fine starter series for kids interested studying different animals. Camels and Pigs: What They Have in Common is our most recent adventure with the wonderful and interesting Animals in Order series...what can I say, my kids just can't get enough of these! What I like a great deal about this is that it takes time at the beginning of the book to look at (briefly) what makes an animal a artiodactyls, specifically getting into what traits exactly make a artiodactyls (which apparently has to do with hooves and toes!). The book then goes into the "order" of living things which details the kingdom, phylum and class , order, family and species (with a handy visual chart for reference, great for younger kids, so they can SEE how it works rather than just read it or have it read to them). This is one of the better features of this series. Next the text goes specifically into where artiodactyls fit into animal kingdom, breaking it down (in words and pictures again) to kingdom (animal), phylum (chordate), class (mammal) and order (artiodactyls). In this section we learn that there are 17 orders of mammals and that artiodactyls make up one of four orders of mammals with hooves (ungulates). Additionally there are ten families of artiodactyls and each family is divided into different genera and species.

The book also talks a bit about where artiodactyls of all types and sizes fit into food chain and in habitats including Europe, Asia and Africa; in the Americas; and across the northern hemisphere. Camels and Pigs: What They Have in Common goes from there into an overview of fourteen species complete with full page, color photographs for each one, which really serve to bring the information to life. This section includes Family, Common Example, Genus and Species and Size for each artiodactyl discussed and each animal is given one full page for written description and one full page COLOR photo...excellent for fully engaging the reader! Animals included here are chamois, Ibex, yaks, deer, llamas, moose and caribou!

Overall, a fantastic way to introduce various types of artiodactyls to your curious young reader! What you get in Camels and Pigs: What They Have in Common is an excellent overview of all types of artiodactyls. Additionally, this book has something none of the others in this series has had yet, there is an extended section at the end discussing the relationship between artiodactyls and people...discussing things like the reason why many artiodactyls are fed and given shelter by people (like pigs, sheep, llamas and camels) is that we can use them for food, clothing, or as transportation. The book frankly talks about how animals like pigs are used to provide people with bacon, ham and sausage, cows and goats for milk, and so on. There is also discussion about hunting animals like deer and antelope and how some animals have become endangered due to over hunting. I liked that these issues were dealt with here and that is was done in a way that isn't meant to frighten or demean. As always with this series, I was pleased to find that at the end of the book the author/publisher also included a short recommended reading list and some really great web pages to do more research on...the kids in particular LOVED this! The books in this series would make a wonderful addition to a classroom library or as gifts for your favorite young reader who has a passion for animals; the information here is scientifically presented, accented with wonderful color photos and is both interesting and informative!