About Habitats

August 1, 2017

K-Gr 2-Seashores are the areas of the earth where the land and oceans meet. This work for young learners offers examples of many types of seashores as well as the flora and fauna that live in their varied habitats. Sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, muddy flats, and pebbly shorelines each provide a home for those creatures who have adapted to their diverse surroundings. Each spread offers one sentence to describe a specific shoreline habitat. Full page, muted watercolor illustrations enhance the simple text and depict specific characteristics of each locale. More detailed information is provided in the afterword, which is keyed to each image. Overall, the information does lack depth; however, this can be of interest as a basic primer on seashores and the plant and animal life. VERDICT Useful for introductory units on marine and earth science.-Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly at Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2017
The creators of the About Habitats series add another excellent edition filled with information about various seashore environments around the world.Seventeen illustrations are each matched to a simple one-sentence statement that notes its characteristics and wildlife. From the shores of the Indian Ocean to the sand dunes of the Atlantic to the rocky beaches of the Pacific, a caption for each plate identifies the name of the ocean and the specific flora and fauna depicted in a realistic scenic watercolor painting. For example, in the picture of the "southern ocean seashore," large rock formations stand in line along the shoreline while sea gulls wheel in a pale blue sky above the greenish sea. The author also uses this initial painting to introduce the book's overall concept. "Seashores are the places where land and oceans meet." The backmatter allows for a more detailed description of each in a one-paragraph explanation next to a thumbnail duplicate of the specific painting. These brief yet informative amplifications address how wildlife and plant life have adapted to each habitat's conditions. The beautifully designed layout and succinct text combine with the backmatter to offer very accessible nonfiction reading for the very young as well as early grade students. (Informational picture book. 5-8)

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June 1, 2017
Grades K-3 While the About Habitats series includes Oceans (2012) and Wetlands (2008), the latest volume focuses on a related environment: seashores. That word may conjure up images of sandy beaches, but the possibilities are more diverse. Defined as narrow strips of land that border the seas, they can be made of mud, rounded pebbles, larger rocks, or even steep cliffs. The book's right-hand pages feature watercolor paintings of coastlines, while each facing page carries a line of text and identifies the ocean and animals in the pictures. Some spreads have dual picturesone showing the scene at high tide, the other at low tidewhich can expose different creatures and types of shoreline previously covered by water. The six-page afterword offers a miniature reproduction of each illustration, alongside a paragraph discussing information such as the action of tides and waves or the animals living along the shore. With reliable information and attractive illustrations, this volume is a useful addition to a series celebrating its tenth year.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
One simple sentence of text faces a detailed full-page painting of an animal or features (e.g., hawksbill turtle, high tide vs. low tide) of seashore habitats around the world. Each numbered plate corresponds to an afterword containing a paragraph about the feature and further information. Easily accessible initially, the information expands with the reader's skill; repeating labels would improve coordination of text and afterword. Websites. Bib., glos.

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)