HIDDEN CREATURE FEATURES

Wild animals show off adaptations that are not apparent at first, or sometimes even second, sight.

If the big, bright, close-up nature photos (mostly stock) and effective use of page turns to rev up the drama don’t rivet younger audiences, Park’s pithy verse should do the trick. Here’s a platypus, for example: “I might look cute / with my BILL and fur. / But hidden from sight… // IS A VENOMOUS SPUR!” Likewise, the wonderfully named sarcastic fringehead fish has a mouth that snaps open like a folded umbrella to enormous size (“When challenged, / I won’t step aside. / I’m ready to FIGHT / when I… // OPEN WIDE!”). Other (less terrifying) revelations include a penguin gaping to expose a tongue covered in sharp, stiff bristles; a snowy owl dangling surprisingly long legs; a squirrel-like colugo extending broad gliding membranes; a pangolin with a long pink tongue protruding from its mouth (kept in the creature’s chest); and a swimming tiger’s webbed toes. The author adds explanatory notes with each entry and, along with a closing invitation to readers to identify their own hidden adaptations, offers several leads to broader surveys of the topic. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

High marks for presentation and showy cast alike.