Features
- Reading level: Ages 9-12
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 72 pages
- Published by: Darby Creek Publishing September 1, 2006
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1581960492
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1581960495
-
Book Dimensions:
11.1 x 9.5 x 0.5 inches
- Weighs: 1.1 pounds
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7–Most kids love monsters, and Halls, Spears, and Young obviously had a grand time pulling up creepy critters to feed readers' fertile imaginations. From old big leaguers like Bigfoot and his kin, and Nessie and her ilk, they pop down to the minors with Mokele-mbembe and Olitu, and on into the bush leagues with the Bunyip and the Caddy. To spice up the roster, the authors provide found information on former
cryptids such as the coelacanth and the Chacoan peccary, and data on pure hoaxes like the Piltdown Man and the Cardiff Giant. Pure scientists will bridle at cryptozoology passing itself off as anything but a pseudoscience, but readers will scramble to find data on such eerie apparitions as the Chupacabra and the Mongolian Death Worm. The conversational text makes for fun reading, and a plethora of pictures (photos and drawings in both color and black and white) will prove enticing. A cryptidictionary provides a full roster of mysterious creatures that may or may not exist in tidy alphabetical order, complete with a reality index rating for each one. For a personal reality check after all this engaging hoopla, try Sally M. Walker's super
Fossil Fish Found Alive (Carolrhoda, 2002), Richard Ellis's readable
The Search for the Giant Squid (Lyons, 1998), and Kathy Darling's exciting
Komodo Dragon on Location (Lothrop, 1997), or, for a truly icky experience, Christopher Maynard's
Micromonsters (DK, 1999), which deals with human parasites (not for the squeamish!).
–Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Lots of pictures, photos, drawings, and sketches fill the pages of this middle-grade look at cryptozoology--the study of legendary animals, called cryptids. Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster,^B and others are grouped in four sections. The authors have made a valiant attempt to find what is true and provable (not much), and their keen interest in the topic is evident in their earnest but ironic tone. Each chapter begins with a florid introduction ("Imagine . . . a night as dark as it is quiet"), followed by whatever facts are available, including claimed sightings. The "Cryptidictionary," which describes and illustrates each of the 55 or so creatures mentioned and rates them on a reality index, is fun, as are the plaster impressions of the right foot of each of the authors. A bibliography is appended.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader ReviewsI am always on the prowl for books that will excite my eight-year-old sons, particularly if they don't have to do with underpants or wizards. With apologies to Dav Pilkey and J.K. Rowling, both of whom write fantastic books, I need a little variety. And so I was ecstatic to find TALES OF THE CRYPTIDS on the new non-fiction shelf in the library children's room. So ecstatic, in fact, that I kept the book hidden in my office until I had a chance to sit down and read it myself. It is fabulous, fabulous, fabulous (that's one for each of the book's three co-creators). This meaty middle-grade non-fiction title takes readers on an adventure in cryptozoology. "Crypto-What?" asks the opening chapter title. Cryptozoology, "the study of and searching for legendary animals--called cryptids--to find out if there's any possibility that these mysterious animals people say they've seen really exist." From Bigfoot to the Loch Ness Monster to prehistoric cryptids you may never have heard of, this book tells readers what is true, what is not, and what scientists just can't be sure about. In addition to being plain interesting, the book is designed well and is illustrated with a nice blend of photographs and drawings. The authors include a "Reality Index" to help readers tease hoaxes from reality as well as a thorough bibliography of books, articles and web sites for readers who want to continue their cryptid studies. I love that the authors had the courage to turn an objective eye to a fabulously interesting topic that happens to be fraught with doubt and disbelief. The result is a book that helps young readers to realize that all scientific investigation, cryptozoology included, requires a careful balance of skepticism and open-mindedness.
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