DEAR WORLD

Leaving his law practice, Texan Temple traveled twice around the world, visiting schools and collecting letters children wrote, after conversing with him, to describe their love for the natural world and plead for its preservation. The results—from 44 countries and regions on six continents (``I asked myself, how can I preserve Antarctica? I decided not to go''), illustrated with Temple's color photos and the children's art—make a moving panorama of sincere, heartfelt, well-informed concern with many frequent themes (the need for catalytic converters in several European countries; the value of trees everywhere). The observations can be as poignant as one ten-year-old Kuwaiti's: ``When I used to walk by the sea my soul would open up, but nature now is polluted and ugly.'' Temple chose many troubled or historically significant spots—Chernobyl, Soweto, Berlin—as well as such far reaches as Nepal and Papua New Guinea. Comments range from poetic or idealistic to specific and practical (``We should not throw dead animals into the Nile''). Many are reproduced in the writer's own hand (and language). The art is vigorous and original; a few pictures are stunningly beautiful. There's a splendid unity in this diversity; in a world blessed with children like these, hope must still live. (Nonfiction. 7+)