cover image Perfectly Hidden: The Animal Kingdom%E2%80%99s Fascinating Camouflage

Perfectly Hidden: The Animal Kingdom%E2%80%99s Fascinating Camouflage

Christine Schlitt, trans. from the German by Chris Brandt. Skyhorse/Sky Pony (Norton, dist.), $16.95 (80p) ISBN 978-1-62087-115-7

In bright, detailed prose, Schlitt explores the animal superpower that puts an invisibility cloak to shame. The proof is in the photos, as reptiles, insects, sea creatures, and other animals use camouflage to guard against predators and to hunt for food. A walking stick is indistinguishable from the twig it stands on, while a ray%E2%80%99s eye is its sole discernible feature as it nestles into seabed sand. Sidebars and photo captions provide easily digestible bits of trivia (because they have no teeth, leafy sea dragons %E2%80%9Csimply suck fish eggs, small crabs, and shrimp through their tube-like snouts%E2%80%9D). Periodic appearances from a pair of cartoon children, Maya and Karl Clever, don%E2%80%99t add much; readers will likely ignore the pair as they eagerly try to spot the camouflaged animals in the magnificent color photographs. Ages 8%E2%80%9311. (Mar.)