RIVERS, SEAS AND OCEANS

A dip into the diverse bodies of water on our planet and some of the ways we interact with them.

Like water itself, this survey doesn’t take any particular shape. Illustrated with large photos in which the author digitally inserts small cartoon animals and items, single-topic spreads are arranged in seemingly arbitrary order. They offer brief overviews of the water cycle; fresh, salt, and brackish waters and their natural residents; oceans; select seas, lakes, canals, and waterfalls; rivers both major (the Amazon, the Nile) and not so much (the Brooks River  in Alaska); “Famous Places” such as Venice and Yellowstone National Park; the “floating market” of Bangkok; and other subjects before suddenly running aground on the southern coast of Australia. Each topic concludes with a cartoon and a question (“Which dam is a little too low?” “Which rabbit is surprised by the geyser?”) that playfully test comprehension, but the one activity, a perfunctory suggestion to fill a bucket with seawater then wait for the water to evaporate, is no more feasible than the ensuing claim that the residue will be “the same salt that you have in the kitchen cupboard!” is accurate.

Considering the flotilla of more watertight treatments available, a washout.