Life In The Wild

by Thomas Marent, Scubazoo

Discover the diversity and beauty of life in the wild through stunning photographs. From the exquisite fragility of butterflies to the might and majesty of killer whales, explore the incredible diversity of life on Earth in this lavishly illustrated celebration of the animal kingdom. Packed with awe-inspiring images of hundreds of species from some of the world's top wildlife photographers.

Genres: Nature, Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Art

360 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Thomas Marent is a Swiss nature and wildlife photographer whose passion for the outdoors began in childhood and deepened when he got his first camera at 16. A transformative trip to an Australian rainforest at 23 inspired a lifelong mission to explore and document rainforests worldwide. Since the mid-1990s, his work has appeared in magazines and calendars, culminating in his 2006 book Rainforest, translated into 15 languages. He has published several follow-ups, leads wildlife photography tours, and supports butterfly conservation in Switzerland.

Reviews

[Sohail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of large photos from different animal species. The photos are gorgeous, but the book is not perfect. The information which it provides is brief and scanty, and there are some minor imperfections as well. For example, photos of the mammals are from familiar species and not from interesting ones (and therefore, inconsistent with the rest of the book). Or, the photos taken from fishes are limited to marine species only, and most of them have been taken from poor angles, forcing the reader (or the watcher) to search for images of those species online to be able to grasp the magnificence of some of them. As for insects, the photos are spectacular, but some of the species lack scientific names or appropriate information. All in all, this is a book more to be enjoyed by watching, and less by reading.

[Freda Mans-Labianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing pictorial journey throughout the animal kingdom. There was even a bird I had not seen or heard of before. This is an amazing table-top book that I believe belongs in every household. Go and get your copy today, and enjoy the beautiful photography of our animal kingdom.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking at the animal photos and reading their captions in Life in the Wild is just another reminder how many strange, weird creatures are out there that I've either never seen or never heard of. It's a fascinating planet we live on.

Animals are grouped by category: mammals, birds, reptiles & amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. Since there are millions of species on Earth, the book is by no means comprehensive, but it does give a good feel for the variety of life out there.

Though Life in the Wild is all about its photos, the captions are well worth reading too. They relay various highlights of the animals: how many tons one weighs, how fast another can run, what yet another eats. Interesting, brief tidbits.

I'm not going to lie, the snakes freaked me the f@#k out even though I focused only on reading their captions (tunnel vision fail!). Also reading some of their facts really didn't help. (This is where I'm glad I don't have a photographic memory.) But the good news is that there were only around 5 and they were all grouped together. This seemed to be true of most similar groups of animals in the book. Once you're past them, you don't have to worry about another one popping up in the chapter. The best tip I'll share with the phobic is that there's an index in the back, so you can see what pages to avoid if you need to.

Otherwise, lots of fascinating critters out there. The big cats and butterflies are probably my favorites in the book. Well worth at least a flip through.

[TheTravelEditor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every year, publishers across the world churn out a seemingly endless stream of natural history books. Many cover such familiar subjects, topics and themes in the same old-fashioned way that I can’t help wondering why such books were commissioned in the first place.

Once in a while, however, along comes a book that makes me really sit up and take notice. A book that makes me want to drool over every single page. Life in the Wild - one of the latest natural history offerings from Dorling Kindersley.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful photos, great for browsing. There are some amazing creatures on this planet that I didn't even know existed. Short blurbs on each one give more information if you are interested in reading them.

[Kamron Jacquot]

This book is very awesome

[Elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful.