Desert Plants

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3-Heavily illustrated with full-color photos, each of these books gives a modest bit of information on the habitat featured and a look at some 10 plants native to that environment. This is followed by a brief plea for conservation and a glossary of terms highlighted in the text. While these slender books could be utilized by classroom teachers and young researchers, their very simplicity may lead to some misunderstandings. For example, in Desert Plants, readers are left wondering just what the yucca moth caterpillar eats. In Seashore Plants, children are not told that lupines, in their wide variety, can also be found in alpine meadows, on rolling plains, and along eastern roadsides. And in Wetland Plants, the marsh marigold pictured is Caltha palustris, which grows happily in eastern swamps and damp lowlands. The text, however, describes the preferred home of the western Caltha leptosepala, which loves boggy alpine meadows and the chilly banks of mountain streams. Plants get short shrift in the annual crop of nature and environment books, so it is rather sad that titles that might have been eagerly devoured prove so bland.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.