The PICTURE THIS! series is a brand-new program of reference books that aims to engage and interest a new generation of visually sophisticated children and general readers. Fresh, clean, direct and uncluttered, every spread distills one subject area into a visual medley of raw facts, figures and statistics relating to the most essential aspects of the topic. The purely graphic approach provides a clear and concise overview, as a jumping-off point to further investigation and cross-referencing. In some ways a visual dictionary, in other ways a revision guide, the quirkily inventive graphics, icons, tables, graphs, maps and step-by-step illustrations are an entertaining way of absorbing information and getting to grips with concepts that can be difficult to understand when explained through a more conventional text-and-image format. Picture This! Animals is a quick, clean, no-nonsense reference book all about the animal world. Designed for the sophisticated eye of today's middle schoolers, fascinating facts and important information alike about all types of animals is presented both visually and in text form. With clean, fresh illustrations and diagrams to provide extra support, Picture This! Animals covers the themes most commonly covered in this widely studied science subject-area. Topics covered include animal characteristics , defense , habitats , migration patterns , food webs , adaptation , birth and growth , and conservation .