In yet another brilliantly written nonfiction book, Lauber twists and turns through the natural and social history of the mighty Mississippi River. From formation to channeling efforts and natural disasters to future plans, the narrative text blends scientific and real-life accounts to present all the "tributaries" of the River. The combination of full-color photographs, illstrations, and maps complements and elaborates the informative and readable text. Lauber concentrates on particular places and people affectd by the flood of 1993, anchoring the more complicated geology and more technological engineering in explicit examples to which readers can relate. Lauber, an indepth researcher, provides specific scienctific facts and descriptions, further depicting the dismal effects of flooding. The remarkable photography records the natural disasters caused by Mother Nature. Catastropic images along the Mississippi transition to photographs of solid community support, affirming readers' beliefs in human acts of kindness. Such integration of photography creates a style that engages the reader; livley writing provides a more comprehensive understanding of the man versus nature conflict. The orderly, attractive design of the text answers questions about the past and evokes new ones regarding the future of the Mississippi River. Contrasting the power of nature and the powerlessness of mankind to fully control the mighty Mississippi; this photo-essay narrative stimulates an interest for real-life science in upper elementary readers.

This is a great read for early learners who are just being introduced to the concepts of the flow of water. Two young children, one boy and one girl, follow rain water from brook to ocean. The book goes into enough detail to give the reader a base, and includes a few other pieces of information that might urge your reader to explore more.

This book is fascinating. The information is new and exciting. Thriving life with out photosynthesis. I think this book would be fun to use as a classroom project. The book is broken into five chapters. Each chapter assigned as a report to be orally presented would met the guidelines for Standard 2 of the Colorado state reading standards. Because this information is continually being updated, the use of electronic media would enhance this greatly. This is also a great one for meeting science standard 3.1.4 as well as a great underwater geography lesson. The book is a bit much for a third or forth grader to tackle all alone, because of the technical words necessary to tell about the exciting new life living around deep-sea vents and how they were formed. Yet worth the effort. There is a helpful glossary in the back of the book. Good luck learning about chemosynthesis.

This book is very informative on general species a snorkeler or diver might encounter. The book gives pictures, names, and general information about the animals. This book covers coral, invertebrates, and fish. It also shows some rare species that are rarely encountered. This book is a definite buy if you're looking for good knowledge. ENJOY!

A great subject and not much covered except by Daniel Defoe 250 years ago. Good bios of the major characters. Very good explanations of the period, the hows and whys of piracy. Since piracy by its very nature is a secretive profession there isnt much in print either contemporary or historical. The author certainly has done his research, the notes and bibliography section of this book runs over 60 pages. The Madagascar pirates must have been the most successful thieves in history and the author is able to convey to us today just how much booty they managed to steal, billions in todays values. And many of them got away with it. The book is facinating yet doesnt read like a novel nor is it only a dry scholarly tome. Where able the author conveys both motivations and personalities of his characters. A very good read esp, if one is interested in the development of Madagascar.

I ordered this book hoping that it contained the large, full color illustrations of previous editions. It doesn't. While it contains all the illustrations, they are smaller, black and white photographs of the originals. So of course I was dissapointed. (For $, what did I expect? Earlier editions sell from $75 to over a $1,000). But anyone who enjoys an old fashioned pirate tale will not be dissapointed. Howard Pyle was not only an extraordinary illustrator, but also a masterful story teller.

WATER EVERYWHERE . VERY INTERESTING ILLUSTRATIONS OF LAYERED PAPER CUTOUTS. All forms and all places we find water.Good level 1 reader.See the others in this science series too ! Adio's.

Excellent first person account of submarine warfare as conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. The IJN had a very different doctrine on submarine and anti-submarine warfare than either the USA or Germany. Capt. Orita notes the IJN Admiralty's lack of faith and lack of understanding of submarine & anti-submarine warfare, and how their lack of understanding translated itself into a very poor underwater warfare doctrine that proved to be one of several undoings for the IJN. Orita believes that the outcome in the Pacific Theater would have been very different if the IJN had attached greater importance to anti-submarine warfare, and if the IJN had more aggressively deployed submarines. Orita's facts and figures are hard to deny.

This was a good book but I would not recommend it for kids ages 4-8. It was quite verbous. It was very informational, however, and a good source to use in the classroom.