School Library Journal Review
| K-Gr 2-A colorful introduction to the Amazon River watershed area. Many entries are generic-hummingbirds and toucans appear without specifying which species are illustrated. Some of the information seems a bit sketchy, e.g., the jaguar featured is a black one. It is known as the Black Panther and comprises only about six percent of the jaguar population. Simple cut-paper collages illustrate each animal, and a portion of a typed sheet of the featured alphabet letter, upper- and lowercase, is a part of each spread. However there is no real sense of the creatures' size or scale, which could be confusing for youngsters. Kathy Darling's Amazon ABC (Lothrop, 1996) and Martin and Tanis Jordan's Amazon Alphabet (Kingfisher, 1996) are similar, but better titles.-Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Horn Book Review
| In this Amazon River region abecedary, each subject, from boa constrictor to katydid, vampire bat to zoologist, is given one or two brief, vague sentences of description. Accompanying cut-paper collage illustrations include some agreeable elements but are mostly too busy and rather amateurish. Many richer sources of information about the Amazon are readily available. "Rainforest Fun Facts" are appended. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Kirkus Review
| From A for the Amazon River to Z for zoologists who study its animals, this introduction to Amazonian fauna uses the English alphabet to organize fast facts about a variety of rainforest and river residents. The design is straightforward. Each page includes an upper-case letter, a statement"Q is for quetzal," for instanceand two or three facts about the species (with only three exceptions, all letters correspond to different animals). Simple cloth-and-paper collage illustrations incorporate pieces of paper with the appropriate letters printed in both upper and lower case. Roughly shaped, these animal pictures may be difficult for young readers to recognize. The colors are not always correct: The piranha is blue-black instead of silvery, and the jaguar shown is the relatively rare black form rather than the usual tawny, spotted creature. The facts are generally, but not completely, accurate: Katydids are crickets, not grasshoppers. The book ends with "fun facts" and some suggested conservation activities but no sources. Young readers might learn more making their own Amazon alphabets and using other books as resources.(Informational picture book. 5-8)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission. |
