A review by ianbanks
Exploring the Secrets of Nature by Reader's Digest Association

3.0

Beautiful-looking reference book that contains a wealth of information about animals from all over the world. It is well-researched and written but it suffers a little from the “what’s the most interesting thing we can put in a two-page spread” syndrome, as the chapters are split into stages of life but there didn’t feel like there was a real plan to how the animals were set out aside from doing something interesting related to that particular aspect of the life cycle. Which, frankly, is a perfectly legitimate way to set out a book but it did leave me a little put off because there are more interesting things about stoats aside from the fact that they can conceive while still nursing because the male stoats are just violent, rampaging penises! It’s fantastic for a starting point at looking at nature - many of the illustrations are excellent, too - as well as for quickly finding out some facts (the index is also very well-done) but, as stated above, wasn’t what I look for in a reference book. For a general reader or as a reference book for less finicky readers, though, it is terrific.