"DIVERSITY has surprising success in being all things (well almost all) to all people. It's about equally divided between fact-packed technical writing, full of Latin names, and line drawings of them. The intro is convincingly authoritative. And TEN pages of further resources are provided.
At first, I thought this is not a book for me, a novice, But Latin names are coupled with common ones. The fifty-page glossary is nicely written in everyday language. And the line drawings are tantalizing. I am invited to color the drawings! 
          The cover shows the beauty of color and design that the authors contemplate. Spiral binding lies flat for coloring. I wonder what medium works best. Colored pencils? How would the paper take to water color or acrylic? The authors urge me to photocopy the drawings. I might enlarge one, use good art paper and create something worth framing!
         There's no clue as to what colors are right. Shall I create my own color scheme, or go to the zoo or a swamp for real-life colors? I think fantasy will be more fun. 
         DIVERSITY does assume some knowledge of biology. I'd call it an expansion of knowledge for those who like knowledge for its own sake, and certainly a well-organized reference book. It could also work as a student-friendly text for a sophisticated high school or beginning college level classroom.
          Just learning that there are five kingdoms staggered me because I studied biology before 1960, when there were just two. The animal Kingdom is now "animalia" and the vegetable kingdom is now "plantae." Modern biologists distinguish bacteria and fungi as numbers three and four. The fifth is really unnerving: something called Protoctista -- very close to the medical words that start out Procto --.
         This adds up to more diversity of life than I've ever thought about. On page 21 I find the first creative drawing/learning project: two cows in a field. One has its digestive tract outlined, with magnified drawings of six kinds of bacteria that populate its gut. Further along I find a pretty little drawing of the notorious E. coli. schematically resident in a fisherman's stomach. What wonderful colors shall I choose?
       I think I shall use DIVERSITY as my Field Guide to the Minuscule as I color with my grandchildren. And somewhere I will find out what a Proctoct-- really is."

J. Jill Coleman
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