THE RAIN FOREST: What Lives There

by Wilda Ross ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 4, 1977

The accomplishment of this book is indicated by--and limited to--its title: you will learn which forms of plant and animal life are characteristic of an African rain forest. A rain forest is defined only obliquely, however, as a warm place where ""rain falls every day"" and ""plants grow fast"" to a great height. That they're evergreens is a separate, unexplained item of information; that these evergreens differ from conifers is not only ignored but obscured by a blanket description of the evergreen's bark as ""thin and smooth."" More critical still is the stress on the many kinds of trees in a rain forest (as contrasted with the relatively few species in an American mixed forest) without mention of their near-uniform appearance, a distinguishing trait of rain forests. Neither is a rain forest distinguished from what is commonly meant by a jungle. Apropos of animal life, one is again denied the reason why, for instance, termites prosper and large animals are scarcer than ""on the grassy plains of Africa."" A sieve of information compared with the solid, methodical coverage in Goetz' Tropical Rain Forests.

Pub Date: May 4, 1977

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1977

Categories: NONFICTION