What's Living in Your Classroom?

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-Numerous color photographs with captions that indicate magnification, fact boxes, and brief paragraphs introduce information about microscopes and microbiology. Bedroom discusses dust mites, bedbugs, fungi spores, and more. Classroom describes lice, bacteria, and microbes found in mud and sewage, ear mites, etc. Kitchen looks at yeasts, mold fungi, bacteria both useful and destructive, and so on. There is some repetition from title to title, including of photographs. Organisms are labeled with their scientific names, although no explanation is given of scientific classification. Correct scientific terminology is used throughout. Each book has a one-page glossary without a pronunciation guide and a table of sizes. There is considerable material in each title, and the colorful format invites browsing. Kathy Darling's There's a Zoo on You! (Millbrook, 2000) presents similar information with more care for classification, word definitions, and an orderly presentation.-Kathryn Kosiorek, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brooklyn, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.