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Snake: The Essential Visual Guide to the World of Snakes

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With spectacular close-up photographs and astonishing illustrations, this extraordinary book is the guide to more than 3,000 snakes from around the world. Fascinating physical and behavioral characteristics of these creatures are presented, with the most up-to-date information available about snakes' habitats, reproductive behavior, feeding practices, defense mechanisms, and much more. A complete, detailed directory lists all species of the 18 snake families; the special "Fact Files" section gives at-a-glance information about every featured snake.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 1999

14 people are currently reading
157 people want to read

About the author

Chris Mattison

53 books3 followers

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5 stars
77 (61%)
4 stars
28 (22%)
3 stars
13 (10%)
2 stars
6 (4%)
1 star
2 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
Profile Image for Krista.
39 reviews
March 13, 2014
This is an everything you could want to know about snakes and then some book. This informational text sticks to the facts. The photos are so real they feel like they should be moving. The book starts by going over basics for all snakes like environment, skeleton, organs, ect. Then, different types are looked at in depth. For children who go through phases where they want to know everything about something, this is perfect. While the reading level seems about at a fourth/fifth grade level, the pictures are so vivid it would be fun for just about any age to page through, including adults. DK has an entire series of books in this format and they all have great photography and easily formatted written perfect for kids.

This would be a great resource for an 'All About' report in fourth grade. While a little too in detail for second grade all about reports, an advanced reader could tackle it as well. Since each page you turn is a mini article on a new topic, this is also a great way to assign a reading, as students can pick the one snake they most want to learn about. The book could also be assigned as a jigsaw where everyone in the class takes one aspect to learn about.
Profile Image for Becky Everhart.
128 reviews52 followers
July 12, 2013
This was a really interesting book. It was nice to be able to look at a book like this with my 12-year-old daughter and see the interest flash in her eyes as she read off little facts or showed me cool pictures from the book. She liked the book so well, in fact, that she wasted no time in looking at every page and plucking several more reptile books from the library shelves to share with me. That said, this book is very informative and quite engaging.
Profile Image for Eli Megibben.
43 reviews
June 23, 2023
Pictures of snakes, information about snakes. In other words, everything you could you ever want from a book 🐍🩷
Profile Image for Lone Wolf.
259 reviews7 followers
June 26, 2023
A beautiful book illustrated with gorgeous photos of snakes. Unfortunately it only features a handful of species, and fairly basic information. At the back of the book is a list of snake groups and species (a little outdated now), but there are no pictures here and it’s very bland compared to the lovely photography in the rest of the book. This is by no means a comprehensive guide to snakes, but if you’re a snake fan I recommend it for the pictures.
Profile Image for Anelise Judd.
20 reviews
September 12, 2024
Really informative book on snakes with great pictures to go along with the text. My kids look at this book for hours. When they get older they’ll be able to dive in like I did with the cool history, biology, science and facts about snakes overall and individually. Great homeschool book for Parent and Kids.
Profile Image for Emery.
1 review
June 4, 2024
SNAKES SNAKES AND MORE SNAKES! YOU MUST READ! MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER! READ READ READ!🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍
Profile Image for Mika Dennis.
5 reviews7 followers
November 8, 2013
Best information about snakes I've ever received, including fantastic photos and geographical locations, etc. Really fantastic, a must for anyone who enjoys reading about reptiles. Visually entertaining and logical.
8 reviews1 follower
January 4, 2013
this book is really amazing for me. my favorite genre is non-fiction and like all other non-fiction books, this book to me is amazing. i'd recommend this book to people like me.
Profile Image for Spoke.
47 reviews29 followers
August 28, 2013
Gorgeous illustrations and plenty of interesting facts.
2,261 reviews25 followers
July 24, 2016
This large format lavishly illustrated book is a great introduction to the world's snakes.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews

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