Weird Butterflies & Moths Text by Ronald Orenstein Photography by Thomas Marent

Both images are from the photographer's website, www.thomasmarent.com

Thomas Marent’s stunning high-definition photographs of moths and butterflies are each accompanied by six to eight sentences from Dr. Ronald Ornstein who holds a PhD in zoology and has authored numerous books on science and nature.  His tack in this title is to whet the reader’s appetite for more with intriguing facts about butterflies and moths.  The last third of the book showcases some of the more surprising images of caterpillars and a couple of pupas. This book will work well for developing a student’s interest in an inquiry undertaking and can be read from start to finish or browsed.  Backmatter is limited to an index and Orenstein’s one-page introduction provides a welcoming invitation to this 63-page volume.  Perfect for reluctant readers and less-sophisticated adolescents reading at an upper-elementary or lower-middle school level. —Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Orenstein, Ronald and Thomas Marent.  Weird Butterflies & Moths.  New York: Firefly Books, 2016.  Print.

Rainforest by Thomas Marent

Few things are freakier to our New York City students than purple beetles, bright blue crayfish, and iridescent spiders. These and so many more wonderfully interesting-looking creatures are portrayed page after page in this collection of colorful and vivid photographs taken by Thomas Marent in rainforests all around the world. Thankfully, every picture gets a caption, which is often necessary for figuring out what the subject is exactly. In addition to the close-ups of animals and insects, there are pictures of waterfalls, trees and other plant-life, within the dense forest and sweeping landscape shots taken from above. The rainforest really looks like it might be paradise until the reader stumbles upon the pictures of the many varieties of tarantulas and jumping spiders that call these forests home. This book is a fantastic choice for many students, including struggling and reluctant readers -- the pictures are so captivating; it is hard to avoid getting sucked in.

Marent, Thomas. Rainforest. New York: DK Publishing, 2006.