The New Encyclopedia of Snakes Hardcover – September 9, 2007

I was SO SO worried when I got this book that it was entirely too wordy. Yes, it had so many wonderful pictures and so many different kinds of snakes, but it also had a ton of informative content as well. I just wasn't sure if it would be good for a 6 year old! But as it turns out, he LOVES it! He reads it all the time, brings it to his cousin's to show off, brings it in the car.. It will be a gift that he will enjoy for years to come - I couldn't be happier!

This is a beautiful book for the snake lover in your life. Bought this for my granddaughter who loves all things about snakes. It is beautifully illustrated with full color photos. It also has much about the background and habitat of snakes. I'm sure it will be on the bookshelf for a long long time.

Got this for my nephew and he loved it. He is 10 and very into snakes. He keeps picking it up and reading it. The pictures are great!

This book is a must for any snake lover! It covers every type of snake you could think of! With that being said, this book is not a 'How to care for your-fill in the blank- snake. It is instead a book that goes over the Taxonomy of the many snakes in the world, with descriptions and details into those different types of species/ sub-species. I would recommend this book for anyone with an interest in snakes.

My fourth grade son checked this book out of his school library for most of last year. When library visits started this year, guess which book was the first one he brought home and showed me with excitement. I noted the ragged shape it is in (probably from having spent nearly 9 months in his backpack last year!), and realized I have to buy him his own copy. He's a snake-lover, and has more snake books than many branch libraries, bu this is the one he reads over and over.

One of the most intriguing aspects of such a book is undoubtedly the quality of the pictures taken of the snakes. Mattison's Encyclopedia seeks not only to provide information about these beautiful organisms, but to gravitate the attention of the reader and to fully address the inherent beauty these creatures possess - through the detail and intricacy of the pictures captured.Regardless - the reason I gave this book 4/5 is simply because some information is simply a recycling, or a gathering - of the countless documentaries and National Geographic programs which have been made about Snakes. Truly, I have yet to come across a book which dives into snakes and studies them on a molecular level - in an attempt to understand fully how they function as reptiles.Despite this minor setback, there is plenty of information here which I have not stumbled upon as of yet, concerning snake interaction with habitat and humans. One of the nicest sections at the end of this includes one which classifies snakes, making this an amazing reference point for any true herpetologist to refer to in times of need.

You have to be interested in snakes to like this book, but it is an excellent gift for a young man of 12 who is very interested in them. He was thrilled by the book and sat down and read it from cover to cover and is the snake expert now. He can tell you anything you want to know about snakes from the information he gained from this book. Beautiful photographs. An excellent book.

This book is very interesting. Probably not ideal for younger kids, but if your reading level is up to middle or high school you should be fine.