The Huge Pacific Ocean

Gr 3–6—This reworking of the "Oceans of the World" series (Enslow, 2004) misses the mark in its attempt to simplify the content. Each title follows the original format: introduction, resources, the ocean's bottom, the ecosystem, exploration, and the ocean's health. By simply cutting words and paragraphs from the earlier titles, complex topics like tides, currents, the water cycle, and the ongoing formation of the ocean floor are muddied at best and result in more questions raised than answers given. Only Atlantic mentions food chains and groups the animals with the terms "plankton," "nekton," and "benthos." The maps and diagrams often don't connect well with the texts and some have legibility issues. There are no diagrams to clarify topics like currents and trade winds. Photographs are clear and captioned. Intended as introductions, these series titles assume too much knowledge on the part of young readers.—Carol S. Surges, formerly at Longfellow Middle School, Wauwatosa, WI