Protecting Rain Forests

Children's Literature

This book from the "Protecting Habitats" series does a superb job dispensing useful information about rain forests. It is educational and timely for today's world. As with others in the "Protecting Habitats" series, the aim of the book is to show how habitats are in danger, and how a difference can be made. A world map at the book's beginning tags rain forest locations. The book's format is user-friendly with two-page spreads filled with smaller subsections. Some topics discussed are rain forest layers, rain forest plants, and rain forest animals. Brilliant, colored photos enhance the text, as do extra side bars which offer up extra facts. A two-page follow up discusses conservation when buying goods, how to recycle stuff, ideas about exotic animals, and web sites to show readers how to become involved with this important issue. A glossary, an index, resources, and an activity page make up the back matter. Elementary and even junior high schools should make this book available for students taking science and geography classes. 2006 (orig. 2004), Gareth Stevens Publishing, Ages 10 up.
—Nancy Garhan Attebury