Be a Friend to Trees (Let'S-Read-And-Find-Out Science, Stage 2)

Discusses the importance of trees as sources of food, oxygen, and other essential things

``Trees are nice [and] also useful,'' begins the noted science writer, summing up the concepts introduced here. Pointing out the many ordinary objects made from wood or, less obviously, tree products (rubber, turpentine, fruit, paper), she goes on to trees' role in animal habitats and the larger environment, including photosynthesis as an important part of a cycle on which we all depend. The simple yet precise text ends with ways to ``Be a Friend to Trees''. Unfortunately, Keller's illustrations, while bright and attractive, are less precise; especially where tree species are labeled, it's a shame to misrepresent them visually. Misshapen birch trunks or vaguely depicted leaves are fine in the picture book stories at which Keller excels, but they're inappropriate in a science book, no matter how young the audience. Still, the lucid text will make this useful; and creative teachers could make a project of comparing real trees with the art. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 2-4. Part of the Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science series, this conveys a lot of information in a simple text with clear line-and-watercolor illustrations. The opening is banal ("Trees are nice"), but Lauber goes on to show that trees are also something we can't live without. She talks about trees as home and food for various animals, as providers of fruits and nuts for humans, as sources of wood and paper, and as conservers of soil. Then words and pictures demonstrate the process of photosynthesis, step-by-step: how trees make food in their leaves and how they release the oxygen we need to breathe. A final section gives hands-on examples for recycling paper and shows two youngsters planting a tree. This easy reader will be welcome in any ecology project, in the classroom or the community. Hazel Rochman