Northern lights

Gr 2-3-A few sentences per spread cover the location, formation, weather, animals, natural resources, peoples, and environmental concerns of famous places. The photograph-heavy books are so attractive that they qualify as coffee-table works for the elementary set. However, the information, while interesting as far as it goes, is incomplete. For example, Amazon River opens with a map of North and South America that doesn't show the waterway. Instead, a star on it covers a big chunk of northern Brazil, ignoring the fact that the river also flows through Peru and Colombia, though this is stated in the text. Also, the narratives are repetitive, with Grand Canyon, for instance, stating that "The Grand Canyon is a huge canyon," and going on to use the word "canyon" twice more in the next two sentences. These will be interesting to browsers but those seeking report information will have to look further afield. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Using short, simple sentences, this introductory book skims over topics including geography, astronomy, and wildlife. The vivid photographs are much more compelling than the choppy, vague text. Some imprecisions in language and illustration add confusion (e.g., "Most often, the northern lights shine above the state of Alaska...Canada, Greenland, and Iceland," while a crude map shows the North Pole hovering over Asia). Reading list. Glos., ind. Copyright 2010 of The Horn Book, Inc. All rights reserved.