Tropical Rainforests

Using Simon’s signature square format, large-print text, and excellent colour photographs, this volume presents tropical rain forests. Clear and beautifully reproduced, the photos are the book’s most striking feature. The text provides a sound, basic introduction to tropical rain forests, their climate, their layered structure, and their vital importance to the world’s environment while stopping to look more closely at a few plants and many animals that live in there, such as army ants, piranhas, anacondas, frogs, parrots, bats, and sloths. Although it would sometimes be helpful to have captions that would identify the animals and plants pictured or give a better sense of their size, the book’s clean design is attractive, and the photos are often eye-catching. A glossary is appended. From a fine science writer, here’s an informative and visually rich introduction. Grades 2-5. --Carolyn Phelan