We're off to the rain forest in Gibbons' newest addition to her nonfiction library. With the simple style and bold format that characterize her books, Gibbons not only explains the complex ecosystem of tropical rain forests and their importance to the global ecology, but also explores related issues concerning the preservation and protection of the forests as natural resources. Bright, colorful watercolor panels with labeled elements are laid out with the text, and each layout is framed by the leafy green vine of a rain forest flower. Gibbons does not designate the specific rain forests in the illustrations (a problem because some of the exotic animals pictured are native only to tropical rain forests on certain continents), but her focus seems generally to be on Latin American regions, such as the Amazon and the Caribbean rain forests where she did her research for this book. Packed with visual information that complements the easy and informative text, this is a good, basic introduction to a complex and popular subject for the youngest researchers. (Reviewed June 1994)

A simple look at the tropical rain forests of the world includes a basic description of the rain-forest ecosystem, an explanation of the layers of plant and animal life, and a plea for protecting the endangered areas. Gibbons depicts the plants and animals in her characteristic watercolor and ink illustrations and frames each page with vines and flowers.

Gr 1-4-A colorful, informative look at tropical rain forests. Gibbons has drawn and labeled about 50 animals and numerous plants and trees on double-spread illustrations. Complementary text appears in the margins. Each spread is bordered by vines and flowers reminiscent of medieval manuscripts. The striking watercolors evoke the mood of the forests, while the text contains simple definitions for italicized scientific terms. Readers are drawn into the ecology of rain forests before mention is made of the danger of global warming and the extinction of flora and fauna due to humanity's destructive invasion. Methods for protecting the areas, such as creating selective cutting or extractive reserves, are noted. Lyn Stone's Rain Forests (Rourke, 1989) and Jenny Wood's Rain Forests (Gareth Stevens, 1991), written for slightly older children, have striking full-color photos and more text, but Gibbons's book is more inviting.-Kathleen McCabe, East Meadow Public Library, NY