Rain Forests (Insiders)
The stellar Insiders series scores again with this macro/micro examination of a habitat in crisis. The quality is apparent with the very first spread: arranged vertically, the layers of a rain forest are drawn with exacting detail in every imaginable shade of green, while circular inserts zoom in on flora with accompanying stats. Running down the length of the spread are markers delineating the cutoff points for each layer—emergent, canopy, and so on. The rest of the book is similarly fine, bringing animals, reptiles, and insects into the mix. It’s all a bit overwhelming; readers are advised to take advantage of the table of contents to plot their attack. Some photographs join the mostly hand-illustrated affair, and larger environmental concerns are addressed in such sections as Felling the Forests and back matter on endangered and extinct species. What will grab browsers are the 3-D cover and vivid drawings on thick, oversize pages, but what will keep them reading is a cumulative sense of the rain forest as a verdant universe nearly festering with life. Grades 3-6. --Daniel Kraus