One of Sandra Markle's four-book Explorers series - the other three are Animals Charles Darwin Saw, Animals Marco Polo Saw and Animals Robert Scott Saw - which is intended to introduce young readers to the interconnected nature of history and biology, this picture-book focuses on the story of Christopher Columbus' 1492 voyage to the West Indies, and the animals he encountered along the way. From manatees - which Columbus mistook for "ugly mermaids" - to colorful Cuban parrots, it was a whole new world of species (sorry, I couldn't resist!) to the European explorers. Unfortunately, some of the "old world" traveled with the explorers to the "new" one, from rats (previously unknown in the Caribbean) to disease...

As with the other entries in this series, I particularly appreciated the multidisciplinary approach here, in which two seemingly distinct areas of study - history and science - are shown to be very much interconnected. Although the focus here is on the natural world, I also appreciated the fact that Markle doesn't gloss over unpleasant realities, like the fact that Columbus was already thinking of enslavement, when assessing the natives. In any case, I highly recommend Animals Christopher Columbus Saw, along with the other books in this series, to young naturalists and historians, and to any child interested in exploration and discovery. ( )