THE HUNGRY WORLD

by Elaine Israel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 1977

A vain attempt to deal with a complex and controversial subject in 20 large print fourth-grade-level pages (60 with breaks and photos). Trying to explain the ""Why"" of world hunger without mentioning political or economic realities, Israel blames ""people"" for cutting down forests, overgrazing, not diversifying crops--not much of an explanation unless you know who the ""people"" are, what options they have, etc. Overpopulation is blamed on religion and the parents' wish for old age protection--a similarly shallow and unhelpful interpretation, however ""true"" at its level. And the absence of viewpoint or direction leads Israel to jump from ""Many many hungry people have been able to stay alive because of Food for Peace and other helping agencies"" to the 1972 Soviet wheat sale and the subsequent high prices here--in this context, an example of nothing. In short, though this is at a younger level than Pringle's Our Hungry Earth (1976), it makes far less sense of the subject.

Pub Date: Oct. 24, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Messner

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION