With a clear, full-color photo and a short caption on each page, this small, square title shows how people across the globe use land, animals, and plants to grow food, make clothes, keep warm, and have fun. The upbeat message is tempered at book's end, where a double-page spread entitled "People Hurt the Environment" explains, in words and small pictures, the harm caused by various human activities: throwing away too much trash, driving too many cars, cutting down trees, and spraying chemicals. A subsequent spread suggests ways of treating the earth more respectfully, by recycling, taking public transport, planting trees, and more. Part of the new First Step Nonfiction Ecology series, this is an excellent starting point for discussion with young readers at home and in the classroom. An illustrated glossary concludes.

K-Gr 1-These brief texts attempt to address complex topics for early readers. With a single declarative sentence on most pages, the books show how animals, people, and plants make use of various aspects of the environment-water, land, rocks, etc. Unfortunately, the word "environment" is only defined in the glossary. Each page includes a well-chosen and composed photograph. The last two to four pages of each book present a current issue using more extensive paragraphs and smaller type. In the first book, Wisconsin's growing wolf population is addressed and an assortment of animal facts is listed. The second title describes ways people both help and hurt the environment. In the third, the problems caused by shrinking forests are discussed. Reducing such broad topics to less than 24 pages requires tough choices, and the resultant presentations are adequate but not engaging. The small size of these books limits them to single or small group use but the complexity of the topics begs for adult guidance.-Carol S. Surges, McKinley Elementary School, Wauwatosa, WI Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.