Wu (Fish Faces, 1993, etc.) describes the special world of the coral reef by day and night. An inviting text highlights the author's firsthand diving experiences, but the many full-color underwater photographs—sometimes four or more to a page—are so small they lose impact. The brief captions give the common names of the subjects but not the scientific names, locales, and size. The spider crab, octopus, and squirrelfish appear in photos of similar size that will leave viewers unable to determine the sizes of these creatures in nature. The design is fussy: The photos have been cropped into overlapping silhouettes, ovals, circles, squares, and rectangles of every size, from full-page bleeds to those only slightly larger than postage stamps; lines of text fall across shadowy, worm-like forms tinted pink, blue, or gold. While colorful, Wu's book—without an index—is not as useful as Cerullo's Coral Reef: A City that Never Sleeps (1996). She has a more compelling narrative, employs larger, more arresting photos, and provides further reading and an index. (Picture book/nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-689-31896-0
Page Count: 28
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1996
A clear, visually attractive introduction by the author of several fine nature titles. Carefully describing the special features that help the cacti survive dry environments (e.g., accordion-pleated skin that expands without splitting), Lerner makes a strong plea for conservation and notes that there is at least one species native to every state except Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Her illustrations are detailed and carefully drawn, though scale is not given; scientific names appear in the back. Useful and unusually well written. Glossary; limited index (omitting some species, e.g., night-blooming cereus, described at length in the text). (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-09636-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
In the ``Earthkeepers'' series, a true hero of the environmental movement gets his due in a simply phrased biography. Mendes, leader of the nonviolent movement to save the Brazilian rain forest, was gunned down by cattle ranchers just a few years ago. DeStefano gives a sympathetic account of his work, covering Mendes's organization of campaigns (as well as his public-relations efforts to attract world attention); the diversity of rain-forest life; its importance to humanity; the destruction threatening it; and the semifeudal living conditions of the rubber-tappers. Although her style plods a bit, she depicts the drama of the conflict fairly; readers who stick with her account will come to appreciate the enormous forces opposing Mendes and the scope of his achievements. Printed in large type and illustrated with b&w line drawings. Glossary; index; but no bibliography. (Biography. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-941477-41-X
Page Count: 76
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1992
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