Warthogs and Banded Mongooses

With bright backgrounds, easy-to-interpret charts, and seriously entertaining photographs of its subjects (not quite the beauty queens of the animal kingdom), this entry in the Animal Tag Teams series (6 titles) introduces newly confident readers to a symbiotic relationship. First, the book describes warthogs and mongooses; quick sidebar profiles provide basic background facts on each of these African mammals. Then the text explains how they work as a team: ticks, which can make a warthog sick, burrows into their bodies, but the mongooses eat them, getting a quick and easy meal and keeping the warthogs healthy. Vocabulary words, set in bold, stand out from the rest of the concise, direct sentences, while the charts and images are clearly labelled and easy to decipher. And excellent introduction to nonfiction for new resarchers, fearing two scene-stealing stars.