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Book Review of About Habitats: Forests

About Habitats: Forests
reviewed on + 1775 more book reviews


Very simple text (CS is an elementary school teacher) and well drawn illustrations (JS is a wildlife artist) are offered in two page spreads. For example, "Most trees that live in cold forests have special leaves called needles." In the corner it is labeled 'Boreal Forest, Siberian Jay. White Spruce.'
The Afterword includes a few details about each plate, in this case Plate 9: "Most of the trees that grow in boreal forests are conifers. Many conifers are evergreen--their needles stay on all year. They grow hard scaly cones to hold their seeds. Coniferous trees have pointed tops and wide bottoms that allow the snow to slide off. This keeps the branches from breaking under the weight of heavy snow. Siberian Jays live year-round in boreal forests in Eurasia. They store food for winter by sticking it in the cracks of tree bark." Thus if you are reading this with a kid, you can appear knowledgeable.
Plate 17 ends the book, picturing and lamenting that the Ivory-billed Woodpecker seems to be extinct, and warning that too much logging is underway. Thus when discussing Plate 9 the authors would be disappointed if I recalled that Dad and I went out and cut a three foot tree for Christmas when I was a six year old in Second Grade (1953, Lake Walker, Nevada).
Bibliography (5 books, 3 websites) and glossary.
But again no wishes, so I will put it back on the 'free' book truck at this branch library for someone else to have.