The Ozone Layer

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-- Following a description of the appropriate natural conditions and processes, each book logically develops the dangers and possible consequences of pollution. Alternative actions are mentioned, but no suggestions are made for individual action. Lively drawings and their captions cover each two-page spread and usually reinforce the brief text; some, however, are confusing. In Ozone , a caption with an illustration of a wolf pack states, ``Animals. . . have to depend on plants for food.'' On the same page, no connection is made between the discussion of ultraviolet light and the picture of a rainbow; in the glossary, ozone is defined as `` . . . ozone.'' The polar maps in Greenhouse seem to indicate that summer ice is more extensive than winter ice . Some oversimplification is to be expected in dealing with complex scientific topics, but implying that global warming is inevitable is questionable. Predictions based on computer models are still controversial, yet Bright uses ``will'' and ``would'' instead of ``may'' and ``could.'' However, because of the full-color drawings and large print, these books should appeal more to younger children than Hare's Greenhouse Effect and Ozone (both Watts, 1990) or Duden's Ozone Layer and Harris's Greenhouse Effect (both Crestwood, 1990), all of which provide much the same information. --Meryl Silverstein, American Museum of Natural History, New York City