From School Library Journal
Grade 2-3-The good news: three titles with nontraditional, global-interest subjects for beginning readers. The bad news: some blurred and murky color photography and an unexciting graphic presentation. Each book is comprised of five short chapters consisting primarily of illustration, with three- to five-line text blocks. Location key maps are clear and helpful: the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge is in Japan; the Discoverer Enterprise, an offshore drilling rig, is in the Gulf of Mexico; and the Itaipu Dam is in South America, between Brazil and Paraguay. A glossary with phonetic pronunciations, a three-item list of print and electronic resources for further study, and a somewhat superfluous index conclude each brief volume. David Macaulay's Building Big (Houghton, 2000) is referenced in Bridge and in Dam; Moira Butterfield's Look inside Cross-Sections: Ships (DK, 1994; o.p.) is listed in Enterprise. If Thomas's books inspire young readers to graduate to works that are of artistic and technical high caliber, then they will have done their job.
Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NY
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
