A Walk In The Tundra (Biomes Of North America)

A Walk in the Tundra (Biomes of North America)

From School Library JournalGrade 4-6-A visually pleasing title with plenty of clear, colorful photographs of the biome's flora and fauna throughout the year. There is a bit of confusion, however, over the distinction between "Arctic tundra" and "tundra" in general, which is shown to extend through the Aleutian Islands in far Western Alaska. The tundra does not experience the severe loss of winter sunlight that is common within the Arctic Circle. Hair-splitting aside, this book fills a niche. Allan Fowler's Arctic Tundra (1996) and Michael H. Forman's Arctic Tundra (1997, both Children's) are for a younger audience. Elizabeth Kaplan's The Tundra (Benchmark, 1995) and Philip Steele's Tundra (Carolrhoda, 1997) are more appropriate for older students.Mollie Bynum, formerly at Chester Valley Elementary School, Anchorage, AKCopyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.Takes readers on a walk in the tundra, showing examples of how the animals and plants of the tundra are connected and dependent on each other and the tundra's soil and climate.From BooklistGr. 2-4. This entry in the new Biomes of North America series has several particularly nice features: the glossary precedes the text, a map defines the location, and the good resources section includes both books and Web sites. The writing style is lively, though Johnson goes a bit overboard in trying to give children a close-up view of the tundra: "Feel how squishy the ground is beneath your feet." She packs in plenty about the habitat, though, from climate to enlightening bits about flora and fauna, and she also conveys a strong sense of the way the hustle and bustle of summer is just a preliminary to nine months of bitter winter. There's a nicely varied selection of color photographs; sidebar "Post-its," each with a black-and-white drawing, help make the design more interesting but add little information. That's a small gripe, however, in a book that does a lot. See Series Roundup for more titles. Stephanie ZvirinCopyright