Grade 4-8. Caitlin Maynard's account of her trip to Belize with the Junior Zoologists Club is supplemented with factual material from her father, the education director at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and club leader Stan Rullman. Together, they provide an unusual view of the diversity of plants and animals in a country about the size of Massachusetts. The teenagers hiked through both lowland tropical rain forests and the Mountain Pine Ridge region. They spent time in a jaguar preserve, although they never observed the elusive cats. Snorkeling near coral reefs brought them into contact with a different habitat. This book is much more than a travelogue. Profiles of people working to save the environment, brief biofacts, and definitions of significant terms expand upon the information provided. The attractive format incorporates full-color photographs, different typefaces, and boxed text to offer visual cues to changes in topic and voice. This engaging title serves as an introduction to both tropical rain forests and coral reefs. For supplemental information, direct students to Mary Cerullo's Coral Reef (Cobblehill, 1996) and Dorothy Hinshaw Patent's Children Save the Rain Forest (Dutton, 1996). What makes this book unique is its concentration on the diversity of Belize and the personal perspective that brings natural wonders alive for readers.?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MN
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Gr. 4^-8. When 18 teenagers and 7 adults took a field trip to Belize in Central America to study tropical rain forests and coral reefs, they returned with considerably more than a chronicle of a summer vacation. Their discoveries are revealed in this beautifully designed picture book, which invites browsing with color photographs, profiles of scientists at work protecting the environment, excerpts from high-school student Caitlin Maynard's diary, and lucid explanations of science concepts such as biodiversity, symbiosis, and mutualism. Various human activities that are destroying the reefs are straightforwardly discussed as well. The photographs are occasionally dark, but readers will still come away with a real sense of the rain forests and reefs, and appended addresses of travel programs will help them find their own expedition. Glossary and bibliography. Shelley Townsend-Hudson
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