Nature's Neighborhoods: All About Ecosystems

This gorgeous book about coral reefs makes for an interesting read, but the real winner is the amazing illustrations that give the reader a glimpse into a fascinating animal habitat. With coral being a living creature it makes sense that coral reefs are always growing. The problem is that they are being destroyed much faster than they can be built. And the incredible biodiversity found among coral reefs is astounding and irreplaceable. This book takes a look at several of the elements that make up this special ecosystem. The book covers what coral is, what are sea anemones, how birds, turtles, and whales make use of the coral reef environment. A food web diagram, glossary, index, as well as additional resources are also included.

Of course, now that my school system no longer does the big annual biomes project, all the awesome biomes books are published. Sigh.

This title is part of a new series from Bearport, “Nature’s Neighborhoods: All About Ecosystems.” It begins with a quick introduction to the idea of a habitat and ecosystem. Pond plants, animals like muskrats and ducks, and insect life are all covered. The book also includes microscopic life, the life cycles of various pond dwellers, and concludes with the babies mentioned previously grown and ready to start a new cycle.

Each page includes numerous tidbits of information, captions, highlighted vocabulary, and lots of cool photographs. Back matter includes a sample food web, picture glossary, brief index, two titles about frogs and dragonflies, and a link to an online resource through the publisher.

Verdict: Even if you have a lot of biomes books (I do) this is a great introduction for younger children or struggling readers. It’s a handy overview of the various creatures and life cycles of a pond and will get readers started either on a research project or just interested in the world around them. Recommended.

These thoughtful overviews provide selected examples of the roles of plants and animals within an ecosystem. Basic facts about the habitat are followed by simple profiles of the creatures that live there. Each spread ends with a boxed question that is answered with the subsequent page turn, which neatly supports the theme of connections within a habitat. A spread on rock-clinging seaweed, for example, leads into one on animals that also stick to rocks, followed by a transition to barnacle eating processes. Continuity is further reinforced by introducing an animal, then returning to it later. In Pond, for example, dragonfly eggs are laid, nymphs appear seven pages later, and they emerge as dragonflies toward the end. Visual support comes from a mixture of full-page photos and smaller insets, many of which include helpful labels. Each title ends with a useful food web diagram. VERDICT Excellent introductions to how ecosystems function.

In this entry in the Nature’s Neighborhoods: All about Ecosystems series, close-up photographs of fly larvae, acorns in the midst of sprouting, curious raccoons, and pine cones greet readers. Keeping the focus solidly on a deciduous, temperate forest, the splashy page layouts help young ones answer questions such as “Which animals live in a forest?” “What do they eat?” and “How do they survive?” In this compact but fact-filled offering, young ecologists learn about the flora, fauna, and fungi that inhabit the forest and how all of these work together to make one ecosystem. Sentences are short, with bold-faced vocabulary words defined in a glossary, and text bubbles add additional information. Full-page color photographs are accentuated by labels pointing out different parts of each plant and creature. A food web that helpfully includes most of the creatures, big and small, mentioned in the book, a glossary, and an index make up the back matter. For those who prefer their ecosystems up close and personal, this is a good pick.