Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon

Mysteries of the Komodo Dragon: The Biggest, Deadliest Lizard Gives Up Its Secrets
by Marty Krump
Boyds Mills Press, 2010. 40 pages. Nonfiction.

Komodo dragons are intriguing creatures, and have fascinated people for thousands of years. This book is an interesting look at this mysterious, scary, and somewhat maligned lizard. One of the first scientists to study the dragons was Dr. Auffenburg, a herpetologist from the University of Florida. In the 1960s, he took his wife and three enthusiastic sons, ages five, eight, and fifteen, to Komodo Island and spent eleven months studying everything they could about them. Part of the fun of this book is reading about the boys and seeing pictures of them handling the lizards.

Since Dr. Auffenburg's groundbreaking work, scientists have found out many things about Komodo dragons. You have probably heard how deadly Komodo dragon saliva is--there are fifty-four potentially deadly kinds of bacteria in it--but the dragon's blood has substances that counteract this bacteria and might work as antibiotics for humans. It has also been discovered Females can reproduce with or without a male--the eggs don't have to be fertilized. Believe it or not, Komodo dragons have personalities; some are even playful and friendly!

This is a fascinating book with great pictures that should appeal to even reluctant readers.

Comments

Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) by Pamela Espeland & Elizabeth Verdick

If there's one book today's kids need to read, it is Dude, That's Rude! (Get Some Manners) . The authors provide a fun format for teaching etiquette to children. They discuss proper behavior at home, at school, at other people's homes and in public places. The information is completely up-to-date with cellphone manners and netiquette included. Fun, cartoony illustrations are on practically every page giving the book great visual appeal. This book is perfect for boys and girls in the fourth grade or older. WARNING: Bodily functions are discussed.

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin

Faces of the Moon by Bob Crelin Illustrated by Leslie Evans Charlesburg; 2009; unpaged Faces of the Moon is a short nonfiction book that describes the different phases of the moon and why the moon appears like it does on certain nights. This book is short and sweet so even the youngest of moon lovers will enjoy it. The layout is simplistic and easy to follow. I don’t know much about the moon so I found it very interesting.

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages. Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Provo Library Children's Book Blog

Search This Blog