A Panda's World is an outstanding book for young readers. The book presents a great deal of information on pandas in a most straightforward way. Many youngsters are taken with pandas because they are cute and are on display at several big-city zoos. Since pandas come from just a few remote regions of China, there is a certain mystery associated with them, so youngsters generally are eager to read about them. Pandas live in the mountain forests of Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces of China. Their diet is pretty much limited to bamboo. When born, they weigh about 4 ounces and are roughly the size of a stick of butter. By 6 weeks the baby panda weighs 6 pounds, and by 12 weeks the panda weighs 13 pounds and already has the characteristic back-and-white fur pattern.

A six-month-old panda still depends on its mother for milk, but can climb trees and chew on leaves. A year and a half after the birth, the panda's mother leaves, and from then on the baby must fend for itself. The book describes some of the important events in the first 18 months of a panda's life, using compelling writing style and creative illustrations. Accompanying the text are a list of interesting facts about pandas, a glossary of terms used, the titles of several additional books to read about pandas, and a URL of a Web site that is safe for children. Young readers of this engaging book surely will want to learn more about pandas and their natural environment. Perhaps parents and teachers will be in a position to use pandas as an example of an endangered species, so that readers will better understand how fragile an environment we all live in. I recommend this book for school, public, and home libraries. Best Books for Children 2006.