The Dirt on Dirt
Grade 4–7—A kaleidoscopic peek into the multifaceted world of dirt—and soil and sand and mattress lint and earthworms and geology and paleontology and (you get the drift). All these fascinating bits are accompanied by a peck of hands-on projects ranging from making a composter out of a milk carton to the production of a delectable "mud cake." The chatty text provides a plethora of facts, interspersed with cartoon drawings, diagrams, and color photos (though one of a creature described as a mole looks suspiciously like a woodchuck). More demanding than Christin Ditchfield's simpleSoil(Children's Press, 2002) or Steve Tomecek's informativeDirt(National Geographic, 2002), and with a different thrust than Raymond Bial's gracefulA Handful of Dirt(Walker, 2000), this book will certainly be a fun source for kids needing science projects and a nifty browser for budding naturalists.—Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NYCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.