Living Beside a River

April 1, 2015

Gr 1-3-Through an appealing combination of clear prose and colorful photos, this set introduces emerging readers to life in or near some of Earth's most common geographic features and landforms. The books open with a "What Is" question that defines the feature, a world map that locates notable examples, and a brief history of how the feature has affected human life The titles go on to describe how the feature influences aspects of contemporary life, including housing, transportation, occupations, education, and recreation, using examples from around the globe. The dangers of each landform or feature are covered, such as floods, tsunamis, and avalanche. Layouts are attractive, with two or three sentences and a large, captioned photo on each page. A "Fun Facts" page adds some noteworthy tidbits, and a quiz tests comprehension VERDICT Demonstrating how physical geography affects human settlement, this series is a solid choice for elementary libraries.

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