From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4–This colorful introduction to six different biomes mixes clearly presented information with seek-and-find fun. The book opens with a glorious two-page collage made of cut and torn paper that depicts a desert in the American Southwest. Eight indigenous animals are included in the picture, but readers will have to search hard to find them as they are mostly camouflaged by cacti and rocks. On the next spread, the creatures are shown against a white backdrop; each one remains in the same position on the page, allowing youngsters to refer back and find the ones they missed. Each animal is introduced by name and given a brief yet tantalizing descriptive line. The same pattern is repeated for a tide pool on the English coast, a rain forest in the Amazon River basin, the grasslands of central Africa, an Australian forest, and a pond in the American Midwest. As an added challenge, and to make the point that ants live all over the world, one of these insects is hidden in each scene. Additional, well-chosen facts about these habitats and the depicted creatures are appended, along with an outline map of the locales. Filled with vibrant colors and palpable textures, the illustrations are breathtaking and give a real sense of the vitality, diversity, and beauty of nature. A first-rate foray into ecology that will encourage readers to explore the world around them.–
Joy Fleishhacker, School Library Journal Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 3. Jenkins and Page team up again, this time to combine vibrant paper-collage art with an I Spy game to introduce wildlife in six habitats around the world. A double-page scene offering a glimpse of the animals that appear on the following two pages introduces each habitat, accompanied by a bit of text that invites kids to look closely at the pictures. Individual animals are depicted more fully and briefly identified on a subsequent double-page spread. Proportions may confuse kids (the termite appears larger than the rhino), and naming the animals in the panoramas will be a challenge, as often only a claw or an eye peeks through the foliage. The animal illustrations are reprised in miniature at the close of the book, each one presented with brief facts in tiny type, which are apparently directed to adults or older kids sharing the book with young children. Further readings and a small map round out the text. The bright and playful design will attract an enthusiastic audience.
Shelle RosenfeldCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
