Round the Garden Book

In an unusual mix of fiction and science--no, it's not science fiction--8-year-old author Omri Glaser traces the hydrologic cycle that starts with a tear. The falling tear helps form a puddle, which evaporates to become a cloud, which makes the rain fall, which helps the garden grow, which produces an onion, which causes more tears! Color-soaked pages hold simple, sparse text in easy-to-read bold print; the story should be lingered over and used as a starting point for discussions about earth science, nature, and life cycles. The illustrations, created by the artist team of Byron Glaser and Sandra Higashi, are digitally produced: two-page spreads of solid color and minimal artwork alternate with more elaborate spreads depicting broad stretches of sky, ponds, and gardens. Clouds are labeled with their correct categorizations (cumulus, nimbostratus, cirrus, etc.), and a very loose diagram of photosynthesis, again with proper terminology (carbon dioxide, soil, oxygen, sunshine) is a good introduction to this phenomenon, without bogging down in age-inappropriate specifics. The youthful age of the author can serve as an inspiration to would-be writers and illustrators. (Ages 3 to 7) --Emilie Coulter Read More