Our Changing World the Roadsid

Describes how the construction of a six-lane highway in a wilderness area disrupts the balance of nature and forces the animals there to struggle for existence.

Kindergarten-Grade 2 Lovely watercolor illustrations show wildlife in the English countryside and in a seaside rock pool. In both books the text describes each two-page panorama, briefly indicating the flora and fauna and noting some habits of the indigenous creatures. Bellamy's paintings, lush with detail (especially in The Roadside) encourage readers to search the page for the tiniest hidden detail. The rural setting of The Roadside is an old farm and the surrounding fields, a winding stream, and an undisturbed old track thick with foliage and home to all sorts of wildlife. When men come to build a six-lane highway through this pastoral setting, it appears that nature's balance will be disturbed, but the workers have taken care to restructure the stream and pond, preserving the environment and leaving breeding and nesting places for the wildlife. Endpapers show the lay of the land before and after the road construction. Pale, muted colors in The Rock Pool make careful scrutiny necessary in order to distinguish each underwater denizen. On some pages creatures mentioned in the text are numbered, but many of the tiny numbers are difficult to locate in the illustration. This short informative book pictures and describes the inhabitants of a rock pool at high and low tide, then shows the effects of an oil spill on the pool and its condition a year later. Living and eating habits of such common sea creatures as crabs, mussels, sea urchins, and barnacles are briefly noted, making this volume a good choice for discussion prior to a seaside vacation. Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, Ohio
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.