CORAL REEF

One of four titles in the outstanding new ``Look Closer'' series, this one focusing more on the creatures that inhabit reefs than on the coral builders. (Cf. the Cousteau Society's more limited Corals, above.) The same format is used throughout the series: an opening double spread shows the plants and animals discussed and gives their sizes and scientific names; then, one or two pages are devoted to each, with a drawing of a child included as a size reference. Photos are labeled clearly and extensively to point out important features. The photos are crisp and bright; and though they've been extensively manipulated, there is no sense of falsification, only of enhanced understanding. A baker's dozen of fish and plants—sea horse, octopus, sea cucumber—emerge with the clarity of a scuba dive. The other books in the series—Pond Life; Rain Forest; Desert life—are equally impressive. Glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 8+)