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The basic text of the book takes the reader through the different aspects of the rainforest and the environmental concerns, from First Nation to timber industries. There are a lot of extras included. Quotes from activists, authors, and books (especially It's our world too by Phillip Hoose), photographs, cartoon illustrations, various inset paragraphs of text.
Some of the inset boxes include information and facts while some are labeled "take action" and give starting points for thinking and investigating various issues. Larger boxes include "Eco-Story" which are reminiscences from the author and "Voices from the coast" which are interviews and quotations from people who live in and around the Great Bear Rainforest, mostly First Nation, but also activists and scientists. The Voices sections were interesting, although I noticed they did all seemed rather one-sided. The Eco-Story sections were unnecessary in my opinion. The author isn't such a well-known activist (at least that I'm familiar with) that her meandering philosophical thoughts and memories from her childhood with activist parents are all that interesting.
Verdict: There is a lot of information included in this book and I found the first-person narratives from people who live in and around the rainforest interesting, but ultimately there isn't much practical information in the book. The suggestions to take action are vague and there are very few real-life examples. While I found this interesting, because I like bears! I don't see any kids in our library checking this out. I'd only purchase this if I had a lot of kids interested in being active for the environment or if we were near the Great Bear Rainforest, which we are definitely not.
1 comment:
Too bad! It looked like the book had great potential. Wish the execution was more thought out so as to inspire children. The pictures look great!
-Reshama
www.stackingbooks.com
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