Grade 4-6. Lumbering along in its armored coat, the impressive monitor lizard known as the Komodo dragon looks very much like its prehistoric ancestors. The Darlings' fine, full-color photographs and informative text provide an interesting close-up view of the powerful meat eaters as they ambush prey, gather to eat, fight with one another, and mate. The well-constructed narrative is divided into short chapters that discuss habitat, physical characteristics, senses, hunting, reproduction, and zoo efforts to stem the dying-off of these unusual animals. Readers will be attracted by the excellent pictures of the dragons in their natural habitat and well-served by the lucid explanations. There's no map locating the far-off Indonesian Islands that are the only home of this rare species, but otherwise this is a well-crafted presentation on an intriguing animal.
