Ocean

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

These compelling books fill children's ears with the stimulating language of the sea: ``silver swirling schools'' and ``shimmering ribbons of kelp''; and the poetry of the forest: ``Sometime in the night / or early-morning light / a tiny tree begins to grow.'' Bash's lucid watercolors complement Hirschi's text by pulling the reader's eye from one discovery to another. Preschoolers will enjoy the ``Who Am I?'' device that keeps them thinking and turning pages to find animals they can observe in temperate woodlands and big city aquariums. In both books a three-page illustrated appendix gives older readers added data to absorb during repeated read-alouds. This information, combined with the simplicity and elegance of the texts and illustrations, works to extend the age range of the series. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2-- Books that play a game are parading on publishers' runways, and these two natural-history offerings have glossy designs to show off, too. Each facing set of colorful pages captures an animal in its entirety and in an up-close detail of one unique physical feature. Children must then guess the animal's identity, with the help of a very few choice words: ``Who slithers through the dew-drenched grass, slipping past the silent rabbit?'' At each book's end, the answers are provided, along with a bit of additional information that will send children back to the shelf for more. These books do not offer the fun simplicity of Tafuri's Spots, Feathers , and Curly Tails (Greenwillow, 1988). However, in spite of the somewhat forced presentation, they will acquaint children with two natural environments. --Amy Nunley, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, OH