MAMMOTH

The author of Megatooth (1991) and Gigantic (1999) returns to prehistory to share the saga of the mammoth, an ancient relative of the elephant that wandered from Africa to Alaska before and during the last Ice Age. Using a large picture-book format and integrating spot watercolor illustrations throughout the text, he discusses how people learned of the mammoths, and then visualizes the world in which the mammoths flourished and then perished. While most people know of the woolly mammoth, O’Brien also describes several other species, including the steppe mammoth, imperial mammoth, Columbian mammoth, and even a dwarf mammoth, the size of a large dog, living on the island of Malta. Especially fine are the detailed drawings of other members of the mammoth family tree and comparison drawings of trunks, heads, and tusks of various mammoths. Libraries that have just purchased Caroline Arnold’s When Mammoths Walked the Earth (p. 1026) may consider a second title covering much the same material redundant; however, O’Brien’s title has less text and will better suit a younger reader. (Nonfiction. 5-9)