The Most Beautiful Roof in the World: Exploring the Rainforest Canopy
Grade 5-8.  Meg Lowman is a scientist who has spent years studying the rain forest canopy. Lasky and Knight join her in the treetops of Belize to record the wonders of plant and animal life found more than 100 feet above the ground. Yet, this book is not simply another chronicle of rain forest ecology, although the exceptional full-color photographs document with clarity the teeming life to be found there. Lasky also explains the methods scientists use to conduct research in this environment, sometimes under extremely difficult circumstances. For example, to gather leaf samples in Cameroon, Lowman had to hang over the edge of an inflatable raft suspended beneath a dirigible. In Belize, she uses walkways high above ground and, for the first time, allows her young sons to join her in the canopy. The long hours the scientist devotes to her work are not minimized, but her love for her research is evident. Her story might encourage young women considering science careers. Lowman's reading to her sons at bedtime from Treasure Island and her private ruminations about Harriet Tubman seem a bit forced and extraneous, but they shouldn't discourage anyone from purchasing this unusual and effective book.?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MNCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.