Dams Give Us Power

Children's Literature - Margaret Jackson

Children are invited to examine everyday items to their tiniest detail. Through a series of photographs, viewers move from big pictures of such things as leaves, a bowl of Cheerios, and a sprinkle cookie to close-up shots of the intricate pattern of veins on a leaf, the milk bubbles in the middle of one Cheerio, and individual colored sugar dots. The photographs are arranged so that a young child gets a real sense of the size and scale of an item. The text is appropriately spare. The pictures do all the talking in this book.

Children's Literature - Susan Fournier

Part of a series entitled "Building Block Books," each book introduces the reader to a specific subject and to how it relates to our lives. This book contains clear and engaging photographs of dams from different parts of the world. There is even a photo index in the back of the book, which goes into more detail about the subject and the place where the photo was taken. Many children will never have an opportunity to see many (if any) of these sights in person. These books are a wonderful way to provide exposure to these sights. Dams Give Us Power looks at many different kinds of dams and explains the importance of each in our quest to control and store water. Sophisticated, man-made dams are shown, as well as intricate dams made by beavers, and kid manufactured dams made of sticks and leaves. While very different in appearance, these dams share many commonalties. Other titles in the series include Towers Reach High, Dams Give Us Power, Bridges Connect, Roads Take Us Home, Farms Feed the World, and Parks Are to Share. Other titles include Towers Reach High, Dams Give Us Power, Bridges Connect, Roads Take Us Home, Farms Feed the World, and Parks Are to Share.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 2Illustrated with attractive, colorful photographs, these books offer short, simple introductions to their respective subjects. The brief texts (two or three sentences per page) explain the specific functions of each type of structure mentioned. Canals presents a nice array of examples ranging from the canals of Venice to the Erie Canal and offers a simple yet clear explanation of how locks work by using an analogy of toys that float in a bathtub or a wading pool. Towers is the least successful of the three, for the word is never defined or explained, and examples include church steeples, a silo, a windmill, and the Washington Monument. Organization is unfocused, and some of the text is irrelevant ("The cows eat after they are milked"). On one occasion, pictures and text don't agree, and the questions are condescending. All three titles have three-page photo indexes that give a few additional facts about the canals, dams, or towers depicted. The bright, informative photos are the strength of these series entries.Katherine Borchert, Arlington Central Library, VA