This Junior Library Guild selection has many things to offer readers. Beautiful photos show the animals being studied and the scientists doing the work. There are also maps, graphs, and other information presented visually to support the text. The text itself does an excellent job of describing the studies, the findings, and their importance. Classes studying adaptations, man's impact on the environment, the results of climate change, and other related topics could use this as a jumping off point for discussions and further research.
Explanations of the difference between evolution and adaptation, where the various data sets come from, and how scientists around the world are cooperating in these studies are helpful in putting the big picture together. There is also humor, particularly in the warning sign on the door to the Phenotron - a sign which features the knights in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" running from the killer rabbit. And there is hope in the suggestions for ways humans can reduce the negative impact on global warming and for possibilities of finding ways to help species adjust to the changes in snowfall patterns.
For any intermediate grade readers interested in science and environmental studies, this is a well-written and engaging title.
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