| |||||
Books: Travel: Arctic and Tundra
Arctic Alphabet: Exploring the North from A to Zby Wayne Lynch Available from Amazon $6.95 On 7-21-2006 
See Item's Page From School Library Journal Grade 4-6-Inspired by his love of the arctic environment, wildlife-photographer and science-writer Lynch shares his knowledge of its animals, plants, and landscape, combining two-to-three paragraph explanations and half-to-full-page background image photographs, one for each letter of the alphabet. The scope is lopsided, as it includes 18 animals, 3 plants, and 5 other arctic phenomena such as glaciers and Inuit. The use of a singular term when more than one of the creatures is illustrated might be confusing. Another odd feature is the use of multiple animals for one letter, e.g., "Voles & Lemmings" for the letter "V." In three instances, the photograph does not match the text. The most glaring error is for "Mosquito," which shows a photograph of a marmot. (The photo for "Hibernation" appears to be a squirrel holding a chipmunk in its mouth, and "Zooplankton" depicts two polar bears.) A few of the letters and corresponding words are quite a stretch, e.g., "Under the Ice" for "U." Despite these faults, the book is engaging. The introductory description of the Arctic is particularly useful. However, the lack of an index makes locating information difficult. Donna Walsh Shepherd's Tundra (Watts, 1996) is a more effective title for this audience. Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AK Copyright 2000 Reed business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews paper 1-55209-334-4 A flawed collection of full-color photographs and half-page descriptions of 26 animals, plants, and phenomena associated with the arctic region. Lynch organizes his material alphabetically, but aims his comments at far older children than the usual ABC-audience. He first provides three different ways of defining ``arctic region,'' but doesn't tell readers which one he's electing to use. He covers, briefly, such topics as the Aurora Borealis; the jaeger, a bird, who steals food by dive-bombing successful hunters; and the lousewort and how it received its name. An extremely questionable inclusion in an alphabet of mostly plants and animals is I for ``Inuit,'' ``smart people who lived where no white person was able to live.'' Despite the authors many careful firsthand observations, which intrigue, answer questions, and raise new areas for investigation, this volume is of limited use.(Picture book/nonfiction. 8-10) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition. |
Additional Pages: 1 2
Other Shops:
Books
Resources
Most Watched Book Auctions
Arctic and Tundra at Sduf
Book Review Directory
Reviewed Authors
Reviewed Titles
Review List
Site Map
