Snake: The Essential Visual Guide to the World of Snakes

by Chris Mattison

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.

Genres: Animals, Nonfiction, Science, Nature, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 1999

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Becky Everhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Eli Megibben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pictures of snakes, information about snakes. In other words, everything you could you ever want from a book 🐍🩷

[Lone Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Claire Binkley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book describes snakes all over the world as of ten years ago (which I want to note since animals evolve). It has a varied presentation of the vast assortment of species. Some have gorgeous two-page spreads, and others only make the directory in the back. I was told by the Department that there are even more that this book doesn't mention.

Yet still, I have been told by those who know better than me that this is an excellent jumping off point into Herpetology. Which one do you like the most?

I like the ones I have yet to fill in the most blanks for the best.

To be honest, this gave me a Pokédex feel, so that's why I liked it so much.
When I was a 10 year old girl from Pallet Town, I got Pokémon Red and Blue for Christmas (and my sister got Pokémon Yellow to trade with me) and the object of that game is to help Professor Oak fill in his Pokédex. I looked up on the Internet how to change the background colours (you just hold down start and select when the logo is loading at the beginning of the game... [Edit: I looked this up to be correct later and it said: "Red Palette: Hold A + B Brown/Yellow Palette: Hold Right + A Blue Palette: Hold Left + B Monochrome (Classic Green): Hold Left + A Inverted Colors: Hold Right + B" - I think I remember preferring Inverted or Monochrome but playing with that was a while ago now...]) and since I connected my memory of having fun doing that with this book, I liked it even more.

To be sure, I made sure I understood all the Glossary at the end before going on about gaming since all of life is not fun and games and I acknowledge looking up abstract terminology too long can be drudgery for some.

[Melanie Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an absolutely beautiful book with a lot of great information. I can confidently say my knowledge in snakes has increased tenfold since having read it. It is definitely great for any snake lover, especially those who are already not extremely knowledgeable on these fascinating animals.

There were some minor flaws in the book, such as once accidentally conflating venom with poison, inaccurate descriptions of minor details that can otherwise be observed in the correlating photos differently than explained, and a bit of redundancy, but otherwise, very impressive, although by no means complete. However, I can excuse this as the book would be insanely long if it featured every species of snake. With that said there is a section in the back with a listing of every snake in existence so I can't say it truly wasn't complete, in its own right.

Great book, but with some flaws that could have been caught with just a bit more editing. It did read a bit slow as well, although I'm not sure how they could have made this go quicker, it is simply presenting information, which at times can feel a bit dry.

3.8 Stars*

[Anelise Judd · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent informational book about snakes!

[Mohd Sharif · Rating 1 out of 5]

I like the book

[Sofian Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is nice for snake lover like me

[Emery · Rating 5 out of 5]

SNAKES SNAKES AND MORE SNAKES! YOU MUST READ! MY FAVORITE BOOK EVER! READ READ READ!🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍🐍

[Matthew Zimmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very bold pictures and decent information

[Mika Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Jason Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Spoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and plenty of interesting facts.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This large format lavishly illustrated book is a great introduction to the world's snakes.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book, I am doing so writing about Western Hognose Snakes.