Cleaning the Air

Children's Literature

What do you share with the dinosaurs and with a worm? In this well-written installment of the "Our World: Our Future" series, Dalgleish supplies the answer (air) as she provides an introduction to atmospheric sciences. After discussing the basics, Dalgleish addresses the current problems, why a factory using fossil fuels contributes carbon dioxide, and how logging in the rainforest is a problem for the air as well. While not going into a lot of details, she covers the bases well, including electricity use, transportation and the pros and cons of methane gas. A simple project asks readers to test their air pollution at home by trapping pollutants on sticky tape. Like the others in the series, this book has boxed messages on each page, titled "Stop & Think," "Show Me," and 'You Can Do It!" The boxes bring the information to the reader's personal level; for example, in a section on the ozone holes, the box suggests that readers wear a hat, t-shirt and sunblock to be protected from ultraviolet rays. The layout is attractive with the boxes, pictures and captions, and the main text all given enough space for easy reading. Included are sections titled Think Globally and Sustaining Our World as well as a glossary and an index. 2002, Chelsea House Publishers, Hansen