The Animal Kingdom II CD includes eighteen original non-fictional books developed by Learning Magic, Inc. utilizing SoftTouch, Inc’s My Own Bookshelf® technology. The Animal Kingdom II CD further extends the Learning Magic original Animal Kingdom CD. In total the two CDs provide a collection of thirty six finished books for your student’s reading pleasure and science based discovery.

The Animal Kingdom II CD includes five books on different animal phyla. These five books were requested by a number of educators and provide initial insights into the different phyla and the differentiating characteristics of animals in that class. The books include, “What Is An Amphibian? What Is A Mammal? What Is A Reptile? What Is An Insect?” and “What Is a Bird?”

The phyla books are then accompanied by twelve additional books that look at unique animals within the different phyla. Please note that we also have included a thirteenth book on gastropods as well (i.e. Snails) for your students reading pleasure and exploration.

Please also note that because of the quantity of the exceptionally rich assortment of photographs and movies associated with these books, the two bookshelves plus the installer and documentation fill a CD. Therefore ‘The Animal Kingdom II” ships either as a MAC or as a Windows version CD. You must choose the platform you want to use when you place your order.

If you are new to the Learning Magic/SoftTouch My Own Bookshelf environment, please be aware that the textual content and style of ‘The Animal Kingdom II” books can be easily changed to meet the needs of individual students. For tips on how to do this and for terms of use for revised versions, click here. You can also easily replace any of our photographs or videos if you feel you have one that would be more beneficial to your students.

What Is An Amphibian?  (Cover)

What Is A Mammal?  (Cover)

The Animal Kingdom II collection similar to the original Animal Kingdom CD does not only include books on animals that may be familiar to students but also books on animals that are probably new to your students.

Ringed Tailed Lemurs  (Sample Page)

Argus Monitors  (Sample Page)

The books provide insights into the individual animals, their traits and habitat. They also provide geographical information in many cases as to where the animals live or originated from.

Gorillas  (Sample Page)

Cheetahs  (Sample Page)

Each of the books is inclusive of high quality photographs of the animals and their habitat. Many of the books also include movies which illustrate and give other representations of the animals’ behavior. Additional sound effects when appropriate are also used to enhance the learning experience for students through the auditory process.

What Is A Reptile?  (Sample Page)

What Is An Insect?  (Sample Page)

The two bookshelves install directly into My Own Bookshelf, where they will be available from the Read menu for self selected reading. You can choose one of these bookshelves and select some or all the books for a student to read. Books can also be placed on multiple bookshelves if so desired. You can assign any or all of the books to individual students by creating their own bookshelves in My Own Bookshelf. Additionally an educator or staff member can easily change or edit the existing text to meet individual students’ needs if that is desired. In that way you can have multiple books available to your students at different reading levels. Each book will however have the same photographs, videos and sound effects if deemed appropriate.

Alternatively, you can open individual books directly from The Animal Kingdom CD using the Readers which are included on the CD. However, being able to choose their own books is an important component of My Own Bookshelf®, so we hope that you will take advantage of this technology and install the two bookshelves.

To keep track of which books a student has read, Learning Magic has created an 8.5" x 14" poster to print with all 18 books pictured in their places on the two bookshelves. Markers are also included so that a student could put a marker saying "I Read It!" on each book on the poster upon completion. Both these documents are included on the CD as PDF files.

We would also encourage you to visit the Goodies/SoftTouch section of our website for free download samples of the books within the Animal Kingdom I and II collection. Additionally you will find several additional Animal Kingdom based books that will expand your library even further.

Also please note that in hundreds of classrooms Learning Magic’s books are also being printed out in multiple formats. They are then being put in reading bins or on bookshelves to provide additional reading materials for children. These same books are also often checked out and sent home with students to provide further reading opportunities and practice for students.