WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE!

Helene Carter's aquamarine and black drawings for this first book of water are accurate, detailed and extremely appealing. It is a pity the text doesn't measure up. A general introduction, quiet waters, running waters, the coastline and the ocean are the five divisions- but beyond this the semblance of order ends. There is plenty of information but unfortunately it tends to get swallowed up in the author's enthusiasm for her subject- an enthusiasm that brings out ideas in too quick and often unconnected succession. For instance in the ocean chapter there is an abrupt mention of tides which a paragraph later, are roughly explained as having something to do with the moon. Then, suddenly, there's a diver in descent, a squid moving by jet propulsion etc., etc. A pleasant book but tighter editing would have emphasized the good points.