Superhero animals by Chris Packham. Illus. by Anders Frang

What links whales, earthworms, dogs and wasps? How does whale poo make the underwater world go round? Why are tiny ants so mighty? What makes bats heroes of the night?

Each of the 9,000,000 species of animal, plant and fungi that humans share this planet with has a special role in ensuring that the world's ecosystems keep working and stay healthy. whether that's pollinating plants, fertilising the oceans or cleaning the soil or the myriad of other tasks that they work together to do. And in this new addition to the Little Experts series, readers are introduced to some of these superhero creatures on which we all rely.

In the introduction, the reader is reminded that they can make a difference - one person, in one community, on our one planet, so while some creatures, like the tiger shark and the vulture seem quite exotic and out of our everyday realm, others like bees, wasps, bats and frogs are much more familiar and for these, there are challenges to take up to understand them better, protect them and share what we know so others do too.

Little Experts is a series designed to introduce 6-9 year olds to the world around them by having experts in the field share their knowledge in easily accessible explanations accompanied by rich illustrations, and even though they, themselves, may not recognise the names of the experts who are mostly UK based, nevertheless having titles about everyday things that our little ones are curious about and pitched at their level can only be a positive addition to non fiction collections.

Themes: Animals.

Barbara Braxton