Penelope Arlon

Even though most people don’t live close to a rainforest, these areas are important to the way everyone lives. This book explores rainforests by continent so that readers can compare the plants and animals of India, Africa, and South America. It details how people survive in these areas, how rainforest products are used in daily life, recently discovered species in these areas, and what will happen to the Earth if the rainforests are destroyed. Each page has multiple high-color photographs to help showcase what happens in these places. A glossary at the end can be used for vocabulary words that readers are unfamiliar with. It also includes a free digital book about monkeys so that interested readers can keep learning about this subject.

This is an encyclopedia-like book to help younger students get an introduction to the rainforest. The information is very basic and the text and images are large, making it a good resource for younger grades who are confident in reading but don’t need a lot of information. Because of its simple nature, older readers are likely to want more information and will not like the small amount of detail. Readers can get an overview of what happens in the rainforest, but because the information is so simple it is possible to read the whole book and still feel like not much knowledge has been gained. For younger readers, this book can be a great resource to learn about this interesting topic, but older readers might want to find a different resource in addition to or instead of this one.… (more)

This nonfiction book is full of animal facts and LEGO minifigures. Over 60 animals are covered in this informational book. The different topics include arctic animals, woodland animals, rain forest animals, mountain animals, desert animals, grassland animals, and water animals. There is a beautiful photograph and a paragraph or two that describes characteristics about each animal, a box of mini-facts that include the type of animal, what food they eat, what sound they make, what the name of the baby animal is and what the group name is. There are also LEGO figurines on each page with additional facts. The fun part about this book are the LEGO challenges on each page. Some challenges want you to imagine something, build something with LEGOS or play a little game. Very interactive and informative book for all ages!… (more)