Amazon River Rescue (Adventures of Riley)

When Riley visits his Uncle Max in the Amazon rain forest, he and his cousin Alice wander from camp and become hopelessly lost, where only cooperation and resourcefulness can help them find their way before it is too late.

Kindergarten-Grade 4–In this adventure, Riley travels to the Amazon rain forest where his Uncle Max is studying Kapok trees. Aunt Martha and Cousin Alice are there to help collect leaf samples. While following some capybaras on the Amazon River, Alice and Riley get lost. They encounter several creatures, including a jaguar, and see an area destroyed by clear- cutting and burning. Tired and hungry, they pound a Kapok tree to signal their location to Uncle Max, who comes to the rescue. McIntyre integrates photos of rain-forest scenery and animals into her painted cartoon illustrations. Many pages also include fact boxes with tidbits of information about various flora and fauna supplied by scientists, some of them affiliated with one of the title's sponsoring organizations: Smithsonian Institution, Wildlife Conservation Society, and World Wildlife Fund. Librarians should note that the book includes a removable "passport" that probably won't last long if left in the copies. Although the amount of factual information included is minimal, readers will enjoy the action, and Riley's adventures will probably stimulate interest in tropical rain forests.–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato
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