Pass the Energy, Please!

August 4, 2000
Gr 1-5-McKinney presents the ecological food chain in a rhyming story. Couplets are frequently sketchy or vague. For example, in describing an owl, she writes, "Her wide yellow eyes, designed for the night,/get their glow from the reptile, captured in flight." Some rhymes are forced ("The vulture is known as a great opportunist/that preys on the fallen if finding it soonest") making the explanation of the links in the food chain even more confusing. Wallace's illustrations done in oil paints are large and colorful, showing fine details of birds, mammals, insects, and plants in their natural surroundings. There is no glossary to explain words such as "phytoplankton" and "zooplankton" and the rhymes that constitute the table of contents sacrifice understanding ("Link Number One-Born in the Sun"). Rice investigates the question of whether animals experience feelings such as compassion, loyalty, grief, deceitfulness, and love. Chapters are arranged by attribute. Although Calvert's illustrations are large and colorful, the text on each page is dense and daunting. Three out of 13 sources cited in the bibliography are old Reader's Digest articles (1964-79) with incomplete references. There is no table of contents, index, or glossary. All in all, there is not much coherent information in these titles.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA

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