Tales of the Cryptids: Mysterious Creatures That May or May Not Exist (Darby Creek Publishing)
Grade 4-7–Most kids love monsters, and Halls, Spears, and Young obviously had a grand time pulling up creepy critters to feed readers' fertile imaginations. From old big leaguers like Bigfoot and his kin, and Nessie and her ilk, they pop down to the minors with Mokele-mbembe and Olitu, and on into the bush leagues with the Bunyip and the Caddy. To spice up the roster, the authors provide found information on formercryptidssuch as the coelacanth and the Chacoan peccary, and data on pure hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and the Cardiff Giant. Pure scientists will bridle at cryptozoology passing itself off as anything but a pseudoscience, but readers will scramble to find data on such eerie apparitions as the Chupacabra and the Mongolian Death Worm. The conversational text makes for fun reading, and a plethora of pictures (photos and drawings in both color and black and white) will prove enticing. A cryptidictionary provides a full roster of mysterious creatures that may or may not exist in tidy alphabetical order, complete with a reality index rating for each one. For a personal reality check after all this engaging hoopla, try Sally M. Walker's superFossil Fish Found Alive(Carolrhoda, 2002), Richard Ellis's readableThe Search for the Giant Squid(Lyons, 1998), and Kathy Darling's excitingKomodo Dragon on Location(Lothrop, 1997), or, for a truly icky experience, Christopher Maynard'sMicromonsters(DK, 1999), which deals with human parasites (not for the squeamish!).–Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.