THE DIRT ON DIRT

Illustrated with a mix of color photos and lighthearted cartoon art, Bourgeois’s latest outing lays a thin layer of inquiry over a wide variety of dirt-related topics—from mud, stains and sand to archaeology, gardening and plate tectonics. Warning readers with weak stomachs not to read further, she begins with the observation that we are surrounded, and in fact covered, with dirt that not all the soap or detergents (the chemical actions of which she explains) in the world can remove for more than a moment. Despite several simple science demonstrations and a true-false quiz about worms along the way, this is too quick a once-over to be more than an additional source for assignments or serious information-gathering. Casual browsers or younger readers of April Pulley Sayre’s Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust (2005), illustrated by Ann Jonas, may sweep it up, though. (index) (Nonfiction. 7-9)