Garter Snakes by Matt Doeden is a very short, but informative book deal for young readers. Since it's so short, I think this would make an ideal introduction to Garter Snakes for beginner readers who are making the transition to chapter books. While this is not a chapter book, it's written in such a way as to be clear, concise and easy to understand. There is a glossary in the back, so words that young readers may not have seen before (such as molt, musk, or hibernate) can be easily looked up as they are reading...or the glossary could be read and studied for a bit prior to reading, so that the child doesn't have to interrupt reading to check the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

For every page of text, there is a full color photo graph or illustration (though photos are mostly what you find) to go with it, which really brings the information to life for young readers. I particularly liked the map showing where they can be found, easy for kids to understand and a handy reference as well as the illustration of the life cycle from brood to breeding pair, these were nice in helping explain who these snakes live and reproduce for my younger son (age 6).

Overall, I give Garter Snakes five stars, it makes a fine introduction to garter snakes for young readers (ages 4-8), I think that it's probably a bit simple for older kids to really find engaging...but beginner readers and those of read-aloud age will love the easy to understand text that lays out the physical characteristics, diet, life cycle, and information on natural preditors to be engaging. The full color photos and illustrations are also helpful in bringing the text to life (particularly for the read aloud audience). ( )