A splendid narrative, subtitled ``Wrestling with the Mississippi,'' about a mighty river, from its formation, efforts to channel and change it, floods and other disasters, and future plans. Lauber (Hurricanes, p. 1051, etc.) tells everything through text and a selection of striking full-color photographs and maps; she recounts the floods of the 1880s, 1932, and 1993, in which 464 miles of river flooded, covering over 15 million acres of farmland and driving more than 36,000 people from their homes. Rarely has a disaster been presented in such serenely beautiful photographs. From the front jacket showing a light-colored house and red barns, window-deep in dark blue water to the penultimate scene of a great egret rising against the sun, the photographs are jewel-bright, set amidst the readable text. An engrossing look at a great river and the continuing challenge of technology and science in support of the natural environment and all its inhabitants. (photos, maps, diagrams, reproductions, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-7922-4141-X
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
Remarking that ``nothing about the weather is very simple,'' Simon goes on to describe how the sun, atmosphere, earth's rotation, ground cover, altitude, pollution, and other factors influence it; briefly, he also tells how weather balloons gather information. Even for this outstanding author, it's a tough, complex topic, and he's not entirely successful in simplifying it; moreover, the import of the striking uncaptioned color photos here isn't always clear. One passage—``Cumulus clouds sometimes build up into towering masses called cumulus congestus, or swelling cumulus, which may turn into cumulonimbus clouds''—is superimposed on a blue-gray, cloud-covered landscape. But which kind of clouds are these? Another photo, in blue-black and white, shows what might be precipitation in the upper atmosphere, or rain falling on a darkened landscape, or...? Generally competent and certainly attractive, but not Simon's best. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-688-10546-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
A rollicking, ripping tall tale with ecological subtext.
When rogue feral hogs and a greedy developer threaten to wipe out Sugar Man Swamp, two raccoons know it’s time to rouse the legendary Sugar Man.
Mythic Sugar Man has reigned over Sugar Man Swamp for a “gazillion yesterdays.” Raccoons Bingo and J’miah descend from a line of Official Scouts Sugar Man designated to watch over the swamp and alert him in an emergency. Twelve-year-old Chap has also grown up along the swamp, where his mother operates Paradise Pies Café. Like his recently deceased grandfather, Chap cherishes the swamp. When the swamp’s sleazy owner, Sunny Boy Beaucoup, threatens to evict them to convert the swamp into Gator World Wrestling Arena and Theme Park, Chap takes his grandfather’s place to preserve what he loves. When Bingo and J’miah discover feral hogs descending on the swamp to pulverize the native sugarcane, they risk Sugar Man’s wrath and wake him. Set in the east Texas bayou, like The Underneath (2008) and Keeper (2010), this playful tale teems with bayou flora, fauna and folklore. In a honeyed dialect, the omnipresent narrator directly engages readers, ricocheting between the hilarious human and critter dramas to a riotous finale.
A rollicking, ripping tall tale with ecological subtext. (art not seen) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: July 23, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2105-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
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