Down a River

Gr 2-6--These colorful books have engaging, informative texts and a pleasing format, but they are not without flaws. As the authors guide adventurers along the Great Barrier Reef or the length of the Mississippi-Missouri rivers, children learn how these ecosystems function and about the plants and animals that inhabit them. The maps give clear, well-ordered overviews of the trips and coordinate page numbers with each section of them. Plentiful, full-color photographs enhance the well-organized information. However, the accompanying illustrations prove a weak point. Errors appear (in Coral Reef, a labeled "cowrie" shows a bonnet shell), as does poor label placement (the illustration of an anemone is almost completely covered by its own label as well as another from an adjacent illustration). Size perspective is confusing (in River a hummingbird appears to be as large as a full-grown alligator's head). The glossary is not always helpful or accurate. Readers are told that filter "means to sieve out" and that parasites are "animals or plants that live in or on other plants or animals." Some children may not understand the word "sieve" any better than "filter" while others may misconstrue that birds living in or on trees are parasites. Serviceable presentations, marked by some missteps.

Lisa Wu Stowe, Great Neck Library, NY

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