Customer Reviews

The Brook Book

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The Brook Book: Exploring the Smallest Streams by Jack Arnosky is an excellent example of quality informational texts for children. The book is engaging and informative and would keep a child's attention as it is being explored. The cover is more engaging in person than it is in photographs on websites. The topic of the book may not be one that initially grabs a child's attention, but brooks and streams are common for many children and once the book is explored it would keep the attention of children as it builds on their prior knowledge and background experiences. There are some basic informational text structures including titles, headings and captions that help organize information, yet it does not have a table of contents, index or glossary. The headings lead to a clear division of information and the illustrations add to the content. They are clear and engaging without distracting the reader from the information contained on the pages.

This book would be an excellent resource when discussing habitats, the environment and documenting the physical world. The examples of how to sketch flowers, collect insect specimens and identify birds, animals and their tracks make this book a great introduction to these topics, a helpful field guide when taking trips to local brooks and a thorough resource for documenting information upon returning.