RIVER SONG by Steve Van Zandt

Van Zandt, Steve. River Song. Illus. Katherine Zecca. Nevada City: Dawn Publications, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-58469-094-8, $9.95.

"Blurp-ah pa-shoosh rumbly pound / A white rapid river makes a wonderful sound..."—so goes the refrain of River Song with the Banana Slugs String Band. See, the book comes along with a CD, and after reading the book through once, and then twice, I thought sticking it in the player was the perfect solution—entertain the little one and get some work done. Not the case. Nope, she wanted me to sing along.

So, "blurp-ah pa-shoosh rumbly pound / A white rapid river makes a wonderful sound" as it travels from high in the mountains on the short days of Winter and down "steep canyon walls that echo with wren's call." Its song continues as it goes through glens, past a Summertime farm, and carries families in their water-tubes along. Finally,  "it rolls and it rolls right past me"...and into the sea. Upon reaching the sea, the water evaporates back up into the sky, and the water cycle begins again.

This is another fine example of the Dawn Publication's books that seek to share nature with children. And, as with the others, it succeeds. Part of what makes River Song so charming, though, is the accompanying CD of the Banana Slug String Band (you might check out additional materials and curricula at www.bananaslugstringband.com). This is a great way to introduce the water cycle, draw attention to Earth Day, or just celebrate the wonder of our natural world.

Reviewed by Stephanie Ashley

A SWIM THROUGH THE SEA by Kristin Joy Pratt

Special Feature: Review by a Middle School Student

Pratt, Kristin Joy. A Swim Through the Sea. Nevada City: Dawn Publications, 1994. ISBN-13: 978-1883220044. Price: $8.95

Open the book, read the first sentence—"If Seamore the seahorse, who lives beneath the sea, one day went exploring, what do you think he'd see?"—and get ready for a colorful ABC journey through the ocean and sea. From admiring "amiable Angelfish in appealing apparel" to discovering "a dozen delightful Dolphins diving up and down" to ogling "an odd-looking Octopus" and examining a "Xiphosuran, exhibiting an excellent example of an exoskeleton," Seamore will lead you through a beautiful undersea world.

This is a lovely book—Pratt's story-line is creative and a delight to read, her water-color illustrations are worthy of framing, and the easily accessible scientific information she shares in prose form provides an excellent first introduction to diverse undersea life. There is something else that sets A Swim Through the Sea apart from other books; Pratt wrote it and another, A Walk in the Rainforest, before graduating from high school. Pratt has gone on to write several other books (Salamander Rain: A Lake & Pond Journal and Saguaro Moon: A Desert Journal) and if they are anything like A Swim in the Sea, I know I will enjoy each word. Environmental awareness is a beautiful thing and this book made me treasure nature all the more.

Reviewed by Stephanie Ashley

THE TREE IN THE ANCIENT FOREST by Carol Reed-Jones

Reed-Jones, Carol. The Tree in the Ancient Forest. Illus. Christopher Canyon. Nevada City, CA: Dawn Publications, 1995. ISBN: 1-883220-31-9. Author recommends this for ages 4-10.

Summary:
A nature awareness book, this richly colored picture book is written in the literary form of cumulative verse. This form is best known from the verse The House that Jack Built. By using this form, the author emphasizes the theme of interdependence in an ancient forest. Reed-Jones is also a music teacher and she uses rhythmic, repetitive verse, and word cadence to engage readers in the vocabulary and overall theme of interdependence in the book.

Throughout the pages readers repeat phrases about the 300-year-old tree that grows there, and the other life in the ancient forest. A squirrel, a marten, underground truffles, voles and mice and an owl are all characters.

Illustrations done in acrylic include deep greens, blues, browns and oranges. The perspective of the images is complex and holds readers’ visual interest. Paintings are of the tree above ground as well as from underground so that soil layers, roots, and habitat of underground animals is visible and detailed, and alternates from this to depictions of habitats of animals that live in the treetops and on the forest floor.

At the back of the book is a list of entries for the animals and plants mentioned in the book. These entries include information about habitat, diet, size and other simple scientific background descriptions. Also included at the back of the book is information about the importance of the ancient forest and descriptive information about its characteristics.

With the re-emergence of the importance of high quality, literary informational texts in schools across the country, this title is a welcome addition to a read aloud classroom collection, especially for lessons about science.

Reviewed by Linda Salem

DO ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS TOO? by David L. Rice

Rice, David L. Illust. Trudy Calvert. Do Animals Have Feelings Too? Nevada City: Dawn Publications, 1999. ISBN-13: 978-1584690047. Price: $8.95.

"Do animals have feelings?" so begins a thought-provoking, curious, and entertaining read. The format of the book is rather straight-forward. Each section starts with a definition of a feeling or characteristic that is normally attributed solely to humans. Next, short examples of animals exhibiting what appear to be said attribute are shared. Finally, readers are asked to reflect on the accounts and decide for themselves whether they are worthy examples of characteristics such as joy, helpfulness, deceitfulness, and compassion. Each sections ends with a prompt that elicits introspection and the reader is invited to come up with his own observations or her own opinions.

But the stories that Do Animals Have Feelings? shares are anything but straight-forward and mundane. I often found myself shaking my head in wonder, smiling, feeling just a little misty-eyed, and asking myself, "Can this be true?"

If I were forced to select only two favorites, they would be the story about two chimpanzees named Sherman and Austin in the Communication section and the Rhesus Monkey covered in Cleverness. The rhesus, using a banana and a moose (yes, a moose), manages to escape from a monkey enclosure not once or twice but three times! Sherman and Austin's communication via computers and corresponding English symbols is fascinating. There are less flashy but all the same astounding examples of Compassion, Grief, and Joy.

Rice does not directly cite the stories, but he does list the sources for each in the back of the book. I think this is a great resource for the older reader to dig a little bit deeper and evaluate the primary sources on their own. I know that I am certainly curious.

This is the second book I have read from Dawn Publications, and I have to say that I am impressed. I will definitely keep an eye out for additional titles to add to my library documenting some of the natural wonders of our world.

Reviewed by Stephanie Ashley