Review by Booklist Review
K-Gr. 3. Splitter, splat, splash! As a rainstorm thrums through the treetops, a tropical forest comes alive. Vibrant words and sensory impressions bring the creatures' noisy cacophony and slithering, swooping motions up close, while gracefully incorporated facts convey a surprising amount of information about basic survival. Each spread describes rain forest animals, from tiny scissor-jawed ants to white-tailed deer as they search for food, fend off enemies, and protect their young. Guiberson doesn't shy away from the realities of predators and death: an eagle carries off a cute capuchin monkey in her talons--dinner for her hungry chicks. But the author balances the heavier facts with lighter ones. The proportions of the animals in Jenkins' paper-cut collages may occasionally confuse children: on one spread, a mouse and sloth appear to be the same size. But the artist's colorful, textured images create a rich sense of atmosphere, and the precise details and lively compositions will easily draw children back to the text. Final spreads of a scientist, suspended in the forest canopy as she studies medicinal plants, reinforce how humans, too, are part of life in the wild forest. --Gillian Engberg Copyright 2004 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Jenkins's collages also shine in Rain, Rain, Rain Forest by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illus. by Steve Jenkins, particularly the thin, nearly transparent strips of paper used to intimate rain. The attractive volume transports readers into the steamy, humid depths of a habitat where ticks and moths live in the fur of a sloth and azteca ants and aphids work in tandem, devouring tree trunks for nourishment. A scientist arrives late in the account, seeking undiscovered creatures and curatives. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4-This eye-catching picture book transports readers to a tropical rain forest. Smoothly incorporating a great deal of information, the text follows creatures such as a sloth, capuchin monkeys, and a poison-dart frog as they move through their habitat. Guiberson conveys the relationships among different animals by describing their activities at various times of day. Small dramas such as a squabble over nest space reveal the continual change and movement in this environment. Effective use of onomatopoeia further enhances the narrative with forest sounds. Jenkins uses his signature collage style to bring this realm alive for viewers. Although his humans seem a bit stiff, they are minor figures in the overall portrayal of the lush, green world. Even collections with several volumes about rain forests will want this introduction.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Primary) To illustrate the rich diversity of a rainforest ecosystem, Guiberson focuses on the daily activities of a single sloth. As he moves slowly and deliberately up and down his tree, the sloth comes upon fascinating plants and animals: the algae and moths that live in his fur, the bromeliad directly above him, the poison-dart frog following him down the tree trunk. Each encounter with another organism establishes a link in the ecosystem, illustrating the complex interactions that exist even in one small area of the rainforest. Both Guiberson's text and Jenkins's pictures are similarly packed with detail, capturing the relationships among plants, animals, and the environment that support and sustain life. Jenkins's cut-paper illustratins work well here; the pictures are crowded with life and convey the rainforest's great variety. Sophisticated and intriguing terms (i.e., azteca ant, capuchin, and cecropia) are fluently defined within the text. The only jarring note is the entrance of a scientist in the book's final pages, abruptly changing the perspective and focus of the book. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Guiberson, one of the best science writers around for younger readers, trails a tree sloth as, between one deluge and the next, it makes its sloooooow way down to the ground for an infrequent toilette, then returns to the rain-forest canopy. Meanwhile, all sorts of other local residents pass in review, from the moths and other insects dwelling in the sloth's fur, to tree frogs, howler monkeys, and, for one scary swoop, a harpy eagle. With typically inventive use of texture and paint, Jenkins's paper collages depict the creatures, ants to a visiting scientist collecting specimens of medicinal plants, in simplified but realistic natural settings. Vicarious visits to rain forests abound, but this vivid, engrossing slice of life makes a worthy companion or replacement for such essential titles as Madeleine Dunphy's Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest (1994) or Kathryn Lasky's Most Beautiful Roof in the World (1997). (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
