These unusually handsome books are dramatic photographic essays for young readers. Full-color photos fill every page, showing animals in their natural habitats. Books are filled with facts and make fine introductions to nature studies that can be used in classrooms. But volumes in this series are also a delight to read -- and nature-loving kids will want to have copies all their own. The stunning photography in each volume brilliantly captures the ambience of our planet's vast oceans, and of the creatures that inhabit them.

These fascinating flightless birds are shown in their native habitat -- the Antarctic coastline and neighboring islands. Dramatic photos show penguins on land, on ice packs, and hunting for food in the sea.