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CM . . .
. Volume X Number 5 . . . . October 31, 2003
excerpt:
The “Nature Unfolds” series employs an appealing visual design using double fold outs lavishly illustrated in full colour. Librarians, teachers and young readers have come to expect high quality from using Crabtree Publishing's extensive collection of nonfiction books on most curriculum related topics. They will not be disappointed with these two new titles in the series: Mountains and Deserts, and Oceans. The Table of Contents lists subheadings and shows the page layout of the two major sections in each book: Deserts/Mountains and Broad Ocean/Deep Ocean. Turn the page to find a brief introduction and quick overview. Open the first of two fold out pages (one extends the book horizontally, the other vertically) for a stunning, four panel panoramic view of the region (Broad Ocean expands to highlight Tropical Coasts, The Wide Ocean, Continental Shelf and Cool, Coastal Waters). The fold outs are wall to wall illustration with no text. The drawings depict landscape features and a multitude of flora and fauna set in preferred habitat. For species identification, a numbered and annotated key to the fold outs can be found following the descriptive pages for each area. The following eight pages focus on each of the four panels, one at a time. Detail on species appears in chunks of text arranged around a small sized version of the full fold out, with the featured frame highlighted. Unusual facts will intrigue the trivia fan: "The patch nose snake has a blunt nose shield that helps it burrow in the sand." Readers can compare the additional illustrations of species to the original view on the panel. Close ups offer precise detail difficult to include in the scope of the panel: eg. the turkey vultures shown as vague outlines in the desert sky on the panel are featured in an individual close up on this page. A long nosed bat is shown sipping nectar from an enlarged version of a saguaro flower. The last page is a Glossary of terms that were shown in bold typeface throughout the book. An Index is printed on the inside of the back cover. There is no bibliography or further readings list. These books provide an excellent research tool for anyone studying the desert, mountain or ocean environments. They are also entertaining to browse for little known but fascinating facts. The poster sized fold out illustrations are repeated in some form at each turn of the page, eliminating the need to flip back and forth to locate a specific animal in context. The ocean fold outs are crammed with species, everything from sea urchins to humpback whales, storm petrels to deep sea brittle stars. No details are provided on the expertise of the author or illustrator. While the information on each species is not extensive, interested readers can use these texts as a starting point for further research. Librarians would be well advised to reinforce the fold outs in each book to reduce wear and tear. These books would provide wonderful introductions for an art class in creating murals or dioramas. A great gift idea for nature lovers, too. Highly Recommended. Gillian Richardson, who lives in BC, is a former teacher librarian and a published children's writer or fiction and nonfiction.
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