Endangered Habitats

School Library Journal

Gr 7-10--Endangered Habitats is a succinct overview of food webs, ecosystems, and a vivid account of environmental problems, extinction, and endangered species. Food and Water is an in-depth description of these life essentials, the traditional means of obtaining them, and the current methods of production and distribu tion. The beneficial and detrimental conse quences of modern technology are also consid ered. Both books are informative and generally well written. Shaded sidebars cite specific cases and statistics. The black-and-white pho tographs are undistinguished. Each volume features two sections of full-color, captioned photographs that highlight some of the prob lems and solutions worldwide. Lampton's En dangered Species (Watts, 1988) provides simi lar information. Hare's Habitat Destruction (Gloucester, 1991) is for younger readers. Groundwater (Lerner, 1991) by Hoff and Rog ers is comparable and the color illustrations make it particularly attractive. Timberlake's Famine in Africa (Gloucester, 1986) focuses on this specific issue. --Meryl Silverstein, Ameri can Museum of Natural History, New York City