Giants: The Book of the ITV Series Book

The biggest and beastliest always has a certain "peeking through fingers" attraction--and not just for children. Nigel Marvin has tracked down and filmed an assortment of the largest animals from a range of different living groups for a six-part ITV documentary series. The book follows the structure of the programmes and looks at a slightly curious assortment of animal groups--snakes, sharks, bears, lizards, birds and tarantulas. We get photos, some facts, some biology and the stories associated with finding and filming them. So perhaps this book is not for people with these specific animal phobias. The snakes and spiders are probably the most feared and least known of the animals featured. By just focussing on boa constrictors and tarantulas, we get more intriguing detail of the biology of these fascinating animals than in some of the other groups. Despite the high "ooh-aah" value associated with all these magnificent animals, the underlying message is all too often depressing. We are reminded just how rare so many of these giants are nowadays. Occasionally there are rays of hope, for example as Nigel Marven points out, even the harmless basking shark has "even become a tourist attraction" instead of being hunted to extinction. Since 1999 they have been protected in British territorial waters.Although an adult book, the text is readily accessible for children from the age of 10 or so. There is a brief species index but no recommendations for further reading, which might promote the educational value of the book but it is basically an easily read and enjoyable "TV table" book. --Douglas PalmerRead More