Life Starts in the Sea

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7A highly pictorial, double-page topic-treatment format with small blocks of text and extensive captions has become a familiar standard for introductory nonfiction. However, these Spanish imports are unsuccessful in their execution. Information on the beginnings of sea and plant life and the appearance and evolution of mammals seems randomly placed and poorly arranged. The text is difficult to understand. Too many convoluted and complex sentences are used to explain simple concepts, and technical scientific terminology is used throughout. The full-color illustrations are well below average in quality. The indexes are sparse, and the few words in the glossary are not clearly defined. Far more dependable titles containing a broader scope and more reliable information are available.Olga Kuharets, New York Public Library