Information Graphics - Animal Kingdom by Nicholas Blechman

Researched by Simon Rogers
Published by Big Picture Press - imprint of Candlewick Press

Information Graphics - Understand the facts in the blink of an eye.
This colorful, entertaining yet educational book comes in tabbed sections for ease of finding the information you want. Such sections as Species, Senses, Record Breakers, and so on. An encyclopedia of information on a small scale, but with a lot of what children might want to know. It may come as a surprise just how much can be covered in this book. With Information Graphics, and Nicholas Blechman's splendid contribution to format and illustration, the information is right before your eyes in graphic form, for instance the Hippo visible on the cover clearly shows that it has the largest mouth and the Pelican can just as obviously show that his mouth (beak) can 'hold more than his belly can'. The pages will hold up to wear and tear, made of stiff stock.

Not only will children learn about vertebrates and invertebrates, cold-blooded and warm-blooded, but such things as what animal can hold its breath the longest, what animal has the largest brain (no, it's not a human), how does a Hammerhead Shark see, what animal has the biggest mouth and which one has the longest tongue. Other sections can tell you how much water a camel can drink in what amount of time. Kids will love this book for both the graphics and the odd things they will learn. Recommended for children 6-9, I think some a bit younger and some a bit older myself because of the interesting facts. A great way to see the world of animals in a memorable way.

10 Plants that Shook the World by Gillian Richardson

Illustrated by Kim Rosen
Published by Annick Press

Gillian Richardson has done a great deal of research and interviews in writing this amazing book. She clarifies what you might know and tells  you what you don't know about the history of these plants. Though a grandmother, I learned more than I expected from this book that is geared mostly to school children, something I always look for in a book--something new. The illustrations are fun and will add to the pleasure for young readers.

I would not have guessed pepper was once worth as much as gold, nor that corn in its original form could have been around 80,000 years ago. Not only that but how important corn has been, not just for eating but in so many products used in the past century.

There is a lot of human history, not always happy, packed into this book along with the history of these ten plants. This is education at its best; fun, exciting and a pleasure to read. There is a Map of Plant Origins, Bibliography and other suggested reading. I heartily recommend it to anyone interested in learning about the way plants have changed the world, be it in food, industry or medicine. Who knows? Maybe a young reader will become an ethnobotanist!

Southcrop Forest by Lorne Rothman

Reviewed for "ReviewTheBook"

A delightful tale with a strong message.  Cycles of life in the forest told in a friendly way.  How every species on earth depends on another and what that means.  Lorne Rothman has produced an ecological and timely tale for all ages.

The characters draw the reader in immediately.  Little Fur, a colony of tent caterpillars hatched in an oak tree in Southcrop Forest, becomes the lifesaving hero of the plot, under the guidance of Auja, the oak tree. As Fur says, "I'm we" and "we're me", the colony thinks and moves as one. The forest is dying of disease and deforestation, eradicated by the "hewmen" with their giant machinery to make way for development.  A lot of information is in this book and told in a form that allows us to learn about the non-human world around us through this entertaining fable.

These particular tent caterpillars are from very ancient stock called "Runes", which have not put in an appearance for 1,000 years.  They have helped the forest in the past and must do so again. Replenish the soil and bring it back to its previous health so the trees can flourish again. The extent to which environment and habitat are dependent on each other to survive the toxins in the air, the changes in the weather patterns, as well as the lack of coordination with human life is demonstrated so well.  There are also a number of endnotes that are very helpful.

The trees of Southcrop Forest have developed a form of communication with the Runes and with each other, a network through leaves and roots. Through this process they are able to direct the Runes to the "Southcrop Farm" where they will be given what is needed to take to the most important Forest at Dark Sky, giving the Runes the necessary information to bring back the balance and future of the devastated forests around them. The concept of the story and the flow of information through dialogue is wonderful and at the same time very insightful.