THE BIG BOOK FOR OUR PLANET

Again, an all-star collaboration in aid of a worthy cause: Mother Earth herself. The 28 original entries include several poems, fables, and other imaginative tales, plus nonfiction: on bats, by Laurence Pringle (with photos by "Batman" Merlin Tuttle); on wetlands, by Seymour Simon; on Central Park's Frederick Law Olmsted, by Milton Meltzer; and some of Tana Hoban's splendid photos. Though quality varies, there are some nifty stories (satire's a natural here): Marilyn Sachs's whale's- eye view of Jonah (not a politically correct snack—junk food, and an endangered species, too); Natalie Babbitt's "The Last Days of the Giddywit," who live "after the dinosaurs but before shovels" and come to a bad end because they never clean out their caves; William Sleator's chilling glimpse of future "Traffic"; etc. From Aliki and Arnosky to Van Allsburg and Zelinsky, 28 illustrators reflect the texts in a fine range of styles. A grand resource to enliven a unit, to ponder, or simply to enjoy. Six conservation organizations are to benefit. (Anthology. 6-12)