Baby Fox. (Nature Babies). Aubrey Lang. Photography by Wayne Lynch. Toronto, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002. 36 pp., cloth, $15.95. ISBN 1-55041-688-X. Subject Heading: Foxes-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 4 / Ages 5-9. Review by Liz Greenaway. **** /4 Reviewed from prepublication copy.
	Baby Seal. (Nature Babies). Aubrey Lang. Photography by Wayne Lynch. Toronto, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002. 36 pp., cloth, $15.95. ISBN 1-55041-685-5. Subject Heading: Seals-Juvenile literature. Kindergarten-grade 4 / Ages 5-9. Review by Liz Greenaway. **** /4 Reviewed from prepublication copy.

excerpt:

It is late winter on the ice off the coast of arctic Canada. This is the home of the black and silver harp seal. For several months, the female harp seals have been busy gobbling up as much fish, shrimp, and sea lice as they can. They need to store up fat, because soon they will give birth.

The frozen ocean is bumpy and covered with snow. Mother seals swim under the ice, searching for cracks and holes through which they can climb onto the surface.

It's a cold, windy place to raise a baby. The icy seal nursery is far from land. Here the seals are safer from hungry wolves and foxes. (From Baby Seal.)

Aubrey Lang and Wayne Lynch are a husband and wife wildlife photography team whose assignments have taken them to over 40 countries and many of the great wilderness areas of the world. Their photographic work, in addition to being in their beautiful coffee table books, has also appeared in National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Owl and Ranger Rick, to name but a few publications.

      Baby Fox and Baby Seal are the latest titles in a series targeted at "the next generation of naturalists." The field photographs are stunning; they allow a feeling of proximity to the wild animals featured. The arctic photos are especially breathtaking as they give a sense of the vast frozen landscape dotted with seals.

     The text is straightforward and fact-filled. Readers learn that foxes nap in the sunshine to evade fleas and that the first pup to meet an adult returning from hunting will get the meal. We learn that mother seals are attentive and caring for the first 12 days of a pup's life after which time the pup is on its own. The truths in nature are not sugar-coated nor exaggerated, but simply presented.

     A short "Did You Know" section provides additional facts. An index makes it easy to do research although the text is short enough to be read through in its entirety.

     An excellent addition to any school or home library.

Highly Recommended.

Liz Greenaway lives in Edmonton, AB, and is currently at home with her small children.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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