I Love Our Air

Gr 2–4—These revisions of 1991 titles try to cover so much that their content sometimes become too generalized to be meaningful. For example, in Animals, after noting ways some animals provide food or clothing, offer companionship, and perform other tasks, Greene concludes, "most of all, they are important just because they are." Solutions to problems are also broad. A single page about preserving land suggests that farmers use safer pesticides and fertilizers and give cattle more grazing areas while everyone should plant trees instead of cutting so many, stop dumping trash, and recycle. The most useful feature of each book is the page of specific suggestions for how readers can contribute to improving the environment. Format varies little: one page of text opposite a full-page image. The same tree-planting photo appears in Air, People, and Forests.—Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato