Earth Matters: An Encyclopedia of Ecology
Grade 5 Up—This environmentally friendly book is sure to appeal to students who will be drawn to the look and feel of the package in addition to the spectacular color photographs. The text is divided into sections corresponding to the Earth's regions: polar, temperate forests, deserts, grasslands, tropical forests, mountains, freshwater, and oceans. Maps locate the areas, and a scale guide based on average adult and child heights helps readers judge the size of the animals inhabiting the region under review. Page layouts vary, and there is a plethora of information presented in catchy, attention-grabbing ways. Web site references are offered on many pages, as are ideas for making a difference and helping to save the planet. The introduction offers the "big bang" theory as the explanation for Earth's creation. The author tells of his plan to sail a boat made entirely out of recycled plastic bottles from the United States to Australia to bring attention to the mass (the size of Texas) of plastic pieces floating in the Pacific. Facts like this are sure to bring lots of "wows" from readers. A first-rate addition to all collections.—Patricia Ann Owens, Wabash Valley College, Mt. Carmel, ILCopyright © 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.