Post by Mandy on Sept 25, 2007 19:43:35 GMT -5
The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming by Laurie David and Cambria Gordon is an engaging and informative book that meets the criteria for the Sibert award, particularly the following:
Clear, accurate, and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts, and ideas: The authors manage to explain difficult concepts in ways kids will understand without dumbing down the information. Clever analogies abound (oceans as sponges, greenhouses gases as a heavy blanket that can't just be kicked off), and sidebars explain mentioned terms in greater detail.
Respectful and of interest to children: Instead of presenting global warming as a grown-up issue, David and Gordon address it in kid terms. For example, the concept of a carbon footprint is shown by calculating daily activities familiar to children (using a computer, taking a bath) and is multiplied by the number of kids worldwide to show the global impact of carbon dioxide. The final section of the book offers solutions to the global warming crisis that kids can implement (with and without adult help) at home and school.
The Down-to-Earth Guide provides plenty of documentation in the form of source notes and a selected bibliography as well as suggestions for further reading, websites to explore and an index.
So often with non-fiction books, I get frustrated trying to take it all in. I find myself having to flip back to read sidebars that I skipped while reading the main text. Not so with this book... I greatly appreciate its layout. The many sidebars and captions are easy to read because the main text on each page flows nicely and allows for breaks to explore the other elements of the page.
Clear, accurate, and stimulating presentation of facts, concepts, and ideas: The authors manage to explain difficult concepts in ways kids will understand without dumbing down the information. Clever analogies abound (oceans as sponges, greenhouses gases as a heavy blanket that can't just be kicked off), and sidebars explain mentioned terms in greater detail.
Respectful and of interest to children: Instead of presenting global warming as a grown-up issue, David and Gordon address it in kid terms. For example, the concept of a carbon footprint is shown by calculating daily activities familiar to children (using a computer, taking a bath) and is multiplied by the number of kids worldwide to show the global impact of carbon dioxide. The final section of the book offers solutions to the global warming crisis that kids can implement (with and without adult help) at home and school.
The Down-to-Earth Guide provides plenty of documentation in the form of source notes and a selected bibliography as well as suggestions for further reading, websites to explore and an index.
So often with non-fiction books, I get frustrated trying to take it all in. I find myself having to flip back to read sidebars that I skipped while reading the main text. Not so with this book... I greatly appreciate its layout. The many sidebars and captions are easy to read because the main text on each page flows nicely and allows for breaks to explore the other elements of the page.