Tundra

Children's Literature - Jean Boreen

This text is part of a series that takes a look at different geographic features around our world. In this particular entry, the reader learns about the tundra, an ecosystem where temperatures remain predictably cold and are typically defined as areas with permafrost, short growing seasons, and cold-hardy animals and insects. This easy to follow book has a six chapter set-up followed by sections called, in order, "True Statistics," Resources (a current grouping of books and websites and places to visit that address the topic with creativity and well-researched information), Important Words, an Index, and About the Author. The chapters focus on where we find tundras, the animals that live(d) on the tundra both in pre-historic times as well as today and the impact of climate change to both, why the tundra matters to all of us on earth, and finally, the future of both the tundra and our world because of changes impacting on the tundra. Excellent photos and graphics throughout further explain or share everything from the length of the TransAlaska Pipeline in the Arctic Tundra to the finding of flu strains from the 1918 Spanish flu virus in the permafrost frozen bodies of Alaskan flu victims. This is a great book in a strong series "A True Book" for younger students looking for information about geographic regions on Earth. Reviewer: Jean Boreen, Ph.D.