RAIN FOREST SECRETS

Though the text here is enthusiastic and the watercolors pleasant, this adds little to understanding of its subject. Animals, plants, and people are all stiffly drawn, lacking the fine detail of Powzyk's Tracking Wild Chimpanzees (1988); the world map provided to locate rain forests is so dark that it is impossible to distinguish between temperate and tropical forests; and the Amazonian forest is discussed in detail, but Dorros never mentions its location. Elsewhere, abbreviation hampers clarity: ""Some scientists think that destroying the rain forests will make the whole earth's climate warmer. The wanning is called the greenhouse effect."" What have trees to do with climate? Dorros doesn't say. He does include, however, a useful address list of Rain Forest Organizations.