From School Library Journal
Grades 2-4--Playful, rhyming, 12-line riddles are arranged alphabetically by key word/answer. For example, "My name starts with letter A./I have a pleasant smell./I'm sometimes used for trinkets/that artists make and sell" and "I begin with letter E./I happen way up high,/when the moon blocks out the sun/and darkens the whole sky." The answers are, respectively, amber and eclipse. Each page includes the riddle, the number of letters in the answer, and an illustration. The boldly colored pictures add more clues. The answers are given on the last page though no further information about them is offered. The main problem with this book is that children old enough to solve the riddles may be turned off by the format. The fact that the subjects of the riddles are so unrelated also limits its usefulness. The book might offer a one-time fun activity for a third-grade science lesson but it is not one that children are likely to pore over or want to hear more than once. Ideas for parents and teachers to write their own science riddles are offered at the end.
Louise L. Sherman, formerly at Anna C. Scott School, Leonia, NJ
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