Reptiles and Amphibians: A Fully Illustrated, Authoritative and Easy-To-Use Guide

The Golden Book on Reptiles and Amphibians is very well written, well illustrated, and is just one marvelous little book. When I was a young boy, around First Grade, my mom (who was a librarian at the time) got me all of the different Golden Guides on nature, including the one on reptiles. I used to read this snake, frog, lizard book over and over again, and along with the other Golden Guides, it helped shape my life and my lifetime love of nature...especially for snakes...and lizards. Today as an adult, I still go out to find and see snakes, lizards, frogs, turtles, salamanders, skinks....this little book was the impetus for a lifelong love of reptiles and amphibians. I am also a writer (Allergy-Free Gardening, Birthday Boy, Safe Sex in the Garden, The Highway Naturalist, etc..), and a former science teacher, and I recommend buying and giving these books as presents to all children. You might well strike a spark that will trigger a life long appreciation and fascination with nature. This book might well also be interesting and useful as a first book on snakes for anyone with a budding interest in wildlife, lizards, fishing, nature. But as with all the Golden Guides....these books are wonderful tools to create interest in young kids. For adults or teenagers I would recommend a reptile/amphibian book such as one of the Guides from Robert Stebbins, but for kids...the Golden Book is a darn good one to start with. Get each youngster his or her own book, and encourage them to write in the book, to make notes, to jot down dates as to when they first saw each species. This is a very fun, fine book!

Same book I had as a kid 50 years ago. It was one of my favorites. Now my grandson has a copy.

The "Golden Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians" was another of the books in the Golden Guide series, edited by Herbert S. Zim, that influenced my early interest in natural history. The high quality color pictures, cheap price and handy size made this a natural for any youngster interested in the natural world. Certainly reptiles and amphibians are fascinating to many (if not all) kids of any age. The illustrations are, like many of those from the series, pretty well burned into my brain because I would sit for an hour just perusing the book, while reading about such exotic creatures as hook-nosed snakes, snapping turtles, collared lizards or spade-footed toads. This book expanded my interest in reptiles, which had been initiated by the Ditmar books ("Reptiles of the World" and "Snakes of the World" - both now outdated, but to my young eyes just wonderful books). I was , however, actually more influenced in my choice of a profession by books on insects and spiders and went on to become an invertebrate zoologist. Even so, I will still always fondly remember this neat little book and the fascinating information on cold-blooded land vertebrates that I acquired through its use. A great starter book for kids interested in herpetology.

This compact book is nicely done and the pictures and commentary an easy reference.

When I was a kid my uncle gave me a copy of this book and it opened up a world which still intrigues me...reptiles and amphibians. Even today I consult the book for info on some lizzard I don't recognize or to see if salamanders actually spend a lot of time out of water. In fact, I'm sharing it with my own nephew now--age 11--who's discovering this new world of life for himself. This book is well-presented and easy-to-use, as well as full of great illustrations that alone make it worth reading through. Profiles of each reptile and amphibian are thorough withough being overwhelmingly scientific. A timeless classic for young or old...one to share over the generations.