Take science to the zoo with you with The Kids’ Guide to Zoo Animals, the latest book from award-winning biologist and photographer Michelle Gilders, author of Why Am I Rare?

The Kids’ Guide to Zoo Animals details 200 popular zoo animals-all illustrated in full color-with information on their classification, description, diet, habitat, behavior and range. From Axolotl and Addax to Waterbuck and Zebra, The Kids’ Guide to Zoo Animals takes budding biologists into a world populated by poisonous amphibians, huge herbivores, stealthy predators, colorful birds and primeval reptiles. Enter the world of the red tomato frog of Madagascar, whose brilliant color warns predators to keep their distance, or the world of the resourceful coyote, who is equally at home in the wilderness or in our own backyards. Discover how the Komodo dragon dispatches it prey and how African wild dogs raise their young. Find out who has a 45-cm-long purple tongue and who has 13 poisonous spines along its back.

The educational and entertaining text provides useful background information on the role of zoos in conservation and what it really means for a species to be “threatened” or “endangered. ” Learn how to make your visit to the zoo more informative and how to track down that elusive animal you just have to see.

More than 200 color photographs and maps illustrate this guide, making it a valuable reference for the home-and to take to the zoo.