1550548190
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Review by Dr. Paul V. Switzer, Eastern Illinois University:
Headgear that Hides and Plays is one of a series of quality animal books by author Diane Swanson. In Headgear, readers are introduced to the many functions of elaborate structures that animals may have on their heads. Wonderful, close up photographs of animals are combined with brief descriptions of the use of the headgear. Other descriptions accompany smaller, cartoon drawings of animals using their headgear. In all, the book covers over 50 animals in an informative, yet entertaining and easy to read style. Topics include "Competing Headgear", "Hiding Headgear", "Feeding Headgear", "Courting Headgear", "Defending Headgear", and "Playing Headgear". As an example, in "Feeding Headgear", readers are presented with anglerfish, frogfish, tube worms, and sea anemones. Sea anemones are described to "...shove food into their mouths whole, then spit up whatever they can't digest...tentacles….are great for battling other groups [of anemones]. The anemones beat one another with their stinging cells." Our adult readers liked Headgear's style, pictures and readability, and children reviewers praised Headgear for its pictures and its information.