Nam Nguyen

This book is eye-popping. Every picture is bright, vivid, and clean. The survey of animals done here is set up more like a Pokemon' card than an encyclopedia, and that is sure to appeal to young children, but less-so to young adults.

There is no bibliography and, unfortunately, this is a common feature of many books from Kingdom Press.

The single most impressive quality of this book are the credentials of the author Nam Nguyen, "Nam Nguyen has a B.A. in Integrative Biology from the University of California at Berkeley with specialization in physiology and animal behavior, as well as an advanced degree in Creative Writing from Emerson College. She has worked at Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science as a Chemistry and Biology instructor, the San Francisco Bay Area Discovery Museum as an science advisor". Obviously, the author is fit to write this particular book and I applaud Kingdom's high standards of authorship.

There is no index, which is acceptable considering the brevity of this book. However, there is no glossary of terms, which would have been very useful, if only to provide a pronunciation guide for unfamilair terms and creatures.

The book has a lot to offer a young child in the incredible photographs, images, and information. The book has a limited value past initial readings and is most likely ideal for introducing chilren to the "greatest hits" of the undersea kingdom. As such, a further readings would have been wonderful.

The books only immediate drawback is the obvious sensationalism on the front cover, complete with snarling great white shark with glittering holofoil teeth. The publisher obviously wanted this book, more than others, to jump out at younf readers, and for better or worse, that is what they will get.

This book is recommended for children aged 4-11.… (mehr)

Micro Monsters
(Extreme Encounters with Invisible Armies)
By Nam Nguyen
2010, Kingfisher, Macmillan Books

Review by Debra Louise Scott

Micro Monsters takes a video game format for its layout about the tiniest denizens of the insect kingdom, including bacteria and viruses. It’s geared for the child who can handle a bit more advanced scientific knowledge than the usual preschooler.

The bug featured on the page is shown in several different situations with callout blocks to identify different parts and what they do. There are insets with video game verbiage: One has Superpower, Equipment, Weakness and Fact, the other has a block scale for Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Agility, Endurance, and Evasion. There are also web page style tab insets that have more information. Some pages have a pullback flap with an electron microscope picture of some feature of the bug.

There is a glossary in the back, but not an index, which is a shame for such a knowledge packed book. The chapter titles are cryptic and don’t necessarily tell you what you’ll find in them.

It’s well done, but definitely technical. The photos are very detailed and will encourage the young entomologist to look carefully at the world around her/him.… (mehr)