Reviews

Gr 2-4-In each of these small-format titles, five or six brief chapters provide basic information on the topic, along with a few specifics. Every page features a half-page color photo or map of average quality. Unfamiliar words are in bold and defined in context; some are included in the glossary. Deserts gives very general information about the make-up and life conditions of about 23 of the world's desert areas in 18 half-pages of text. The other titles each have illustrative problems. In Mountains, a caption correctly states that Pikes Peak is a domed mountain, but the photo is not of Pikes Peak. Seas tries to cover too much territory with a very limited vocabulary. "Rain and rivers wash the salt off rocks" is the explanation given for ocean salt water. Volcanic action on the ocean floor is not easily explained in eight short, simple sentences. Rivers is likely the most accurate of the four titles, but simplistic statements such as "A bridge may connect the two sides of a river" do not add much to the text. The caption for one photo states that "These birds are wading in a river's estuary," when they are obviously floating. These titles may be attractive, but they don't have much content.-Eldon Younce, Harper Elementary School, KS Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.