Rain Forests

by Shirley W. Gray

Overview

Describes what a rain forest is and its importance, and what types of plants and animals reside there.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780756509491
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	09/01/2000
Series:	First Reports - Biomes
Pages:	48
Product dimensions:	7.12(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	850L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 9 Years

About the Author

Shirley W. Gray received her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Mississippi and her master’s degree in technical writing from the University of Arkansas. She teaches writing and works as a scientific writer and editor. Shirley W. Gray lives with her husband and two sons in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Table of Contents

What can you imagine? — Tropical rain forests — Temperate rain forest — Trees in the rain forests — Layers of life — Animals and life cycles — Hanging, swinging animals — Creeping, crawling animals — Who lives in the rain forest? — The importance of rain forests — Protecting the rain forest.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 2-4-These books provide a satisfactory but cursory overview of the assigned topics. Each one summarizes the physical features of the ecosystem, describes the plants and animals that live there, and mentions the human interactions that pose threats to the environment. Neither writing nor illustration is compelling enough to interest readers other than those writing reports. Rain Forest is unusual in its mention of temperate as well as tropical rain forests. However, that inclusion stretches coverage of every subtopic even thinner. Libraries with books such as Caleb Owens's Coral Reefs (Child's World, 1998) or Jonathan Grupper's Destination: Rainforest (National Geographic, 1997) and other basic titles can pass on these entries in crowded fields.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

This entry in the "First Reports" series describes the climate, forest features, animals (divided into hanging and swinging animals and creeping or crawling ones), and plants found in rain forests. Tapirs, sloths, leaf-cutter ants, snakes and anteaters are some of the animals mentioned (no butterflies). A short section presents the rainforest-dwelling people in Brazil and in the Congo who live along the river. Reasons to protect the rainforests included in the text are to save animals, to preserve plants that may help humans and to save an important food source. Special vocabulary (eleven words including understory, highlands, humidity, canopy, forest floor and arboreal) appears in bold type and again in a glossary. Pictures are current, varied and well-captioned. This useful and clearly written text provides a good introduction to the subject for young readers and is supported with a short "Did You Know?" section, "Facts at a Glance," book and web site references, an index and "Places to Write to for More Information."

Children's Literature