This beautifully illustrated lift-the-flap book lets children explore small habitats in nature up close. The smallest areas of the natural world can contain a diverse web of life. Peel back leaves on the forest floor, peer over a clifftop and into a desert canyon, travel to an oasis in the Sahara Desert, climb a towering Brazil nut tree in a rain forest, and visit four more land-based habitats. What creatures will you discover? In this richly illustrated lift-the-flap book, young nature enthusiasts can get up close and personal with the wonders found in eight very different terrestrial ecosystems. K-Gr 3-Eight very different habitats from around the world are described and beautifully illustrated on well-composed spreads. Liftable flaps enable readers to peek under the surface to see how a toad keeps its skin moist under decomposing leaves in the North American forest, and in a Sahara Desert oasis the way a darkling beetle scuttles on tiptoe to keep its feet from burning in the intense heat. The usually unseen life in different habitats is illustrated in full-color with around 70 flaps in total to lift and learn from. Young readers can spend time exploring hidden activities and discover how the complex networks function in such varied places as an alpine meadow, a rain forest in Borneo, and the Grand Canyon. Categories such as predators, herbivores, decomposers, animal homes, and relationships are briefly defined in the beginning and then often highlighted in the text, but there is no index or glossary to expand on definitions or terms. VERDICT Although the paper flaps may make this a fragile choice for school and public libraries, this is a compelling way for children to absorb such varied conditions across our globe.-Frances E. Millhouserα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Eight very different habitats from around the world are described and beautifully illustrated. . . a compelling way for children to ­absorb such varied conditions across our globe. —School Library Journal Camilla de la Bedoyere has a background in zoology and has written more than two hundred books for children and adults, many of which explore the natural world. She has also worked as a journalist, editing a children’s page in a national newspaper, and as a specialist reading teacher. A Fellow of the Zoological Society of London, she lives with her family in London. Lara Hawthorne is a graduate of Falmouth University in England. She is the author-illustrator of The Night Flower: The Blooming of the Saguaro Cactus and Alba and the Ocean Cleanup . She lives in Bristol, England.