Reviews

Gr 5-7-A chatty, informative text is nicely larded with Lynch's personal experiences, which lend a real immediacy to the author's exploration of America's largest wetland and its many ecological niches. "ECO-Fact" boxes pop up like grasshoppers in a meadow, proffering data on a wide variety of topics, from local rainfall amounts to marsh rabbits to native orchids. Handsome color photos appear on every page, and a small map is included for geographic orientation. This attractive portrayal of a unique biome is sadly marred by some mislabeled photos. One identifies a Snowy Egret as a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron; another labeled as a Black-crowned Night-Heron is actually a Yellow-crowned. Yet another makes it sound as though a water strider has only four legs (they have four really long ones, but two shorter ones make up the insect quota of six). Daniel Blaustein's The Everglades and the Gulf Coast (Benchmark, 2000) covers much of the same ground (with more of an emphasis on human effects), but lacks the engaging personal touch of this very readable, eye-catching work.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.