Animals of the World

by Dempsey Parr Book

Hardback book with Dust Jacket.
About 9 1/2" by 13 1/2".

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Animals, Nature, Biology

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Manybooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

With his 1999 Animals of the World (which is for the most part a nicely enlightening, educational, biologically sound and engagingly presented combination of textual information and photographs/illustrations/labelled line drawings), Martin Walters shows an all-encompassing global introduction to every part of kingdom animalia, simply and engagingly penned, educational (and thankfully also without Walters talking down and sans artificial humour and/or author based snarkiness), suitable for readers from about the age of nine or so onwards, and with me definitely considering Animals of the World as being something for both young and old, since Animals of the World would definitely work equally well for and with adult readers wanting something basic and easily perused, so that for example, a biology teacher needing to look up something about springtails and other simple insects should have an easy time doing so, and in particular so because Animals of the World is nicely divided into seven main sections with multiple and clearly labelled sub-chapters, as well as including a solid and detailed index (and with Animals of the World ranging from single celled animals to primates and of course everything in-between, and yes, Martin Walters also points out that humans and other primates are closely related but that I do find it rather annoying and more than a bit lacking how Walters does not have an actual section in Animals of the World on humans as animals and that the details presented in Animals of the World on evolution are rather substandard and not really sufficiently covered, that Animals of the World does just seem to mention evolution in passing so to speak and thus has no information on the history of life on earth, on dinosaurs, on how birds more than likely evolved from dinosaurs, on mass extinction events etc. being textual featured).

Now while Animals of the World is extensive, yes indeed, Martin Walters' presented information certainly and definitely lacks intensity. And while generally speaking and for the type of book Animals of the World represents, Walters keeping his presented details on animals primarily on the surface and simple, and basic is actually not really an issue (and something to indeed even be expected since Animals of the World is meant to be but an introduction to animals and as such not all that much in-depth), that there are NO bibliographic details AT ALL included by Martin Walters in Animals of the World (except for some hard to read photo credits at the back of the book), no acknowledgments of secondary and primary sources (and also, and which in my opinion for Animals of the World really should be a necessity, no more intensive and more comprehensive suggestions for further reading and study either), this is for me a huge and majorly problematic academic and intellectual oversight, and one that I cannot and will not be able to ignore. Thus, while as a basic introduction, Animals of the World does a very nice textual job and is also as such recommended by me, the total non appearance of bibliographic materials (and that Martin Walters as already mentioned above only skims over evolution and also does not seem to consider global warming and climate change as an issue and a threat for animals, for life on earth in general), yes, this has definitely taken a bit of my potential reading joy away and that I therefore can and will not be able to rate Animals of the World with more than three stars.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was some good info, though of course it was very surface level due to the nature of the book. Some parts, some types of animals, were more interesting to me than others. It does unfortunately espouse evolution.

[Liora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first biology book as a young child; it was in my family's possession before I was born. It has a section on almost every animal imaginable, with beautiful illustrations, images, and easy-to-read text. It may skimp out on the nitty-gritty details of everything, but as it is a book suitable for children that's forgivable. It's a fascinating read; I'd recommend it for children and adults of all ages (except literal babies, of course). Yes, even toddlers; the abundance of colourful images and illustrations can captivate their interest just as much as the information. It's an excellent educational/bonding opportunity to flip through this book with your kid as they marvel at the pictures while you read them facts about the animals that capture their attention.

[Jordan Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed, lushly photographed, thick book that covers just about every type of animal you could ever wish to know about. I can't say how many dozens of times I read this as a kid.