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CHILDREN’S NONFICTION
Emergency! by Joy Masoff. LCCN
97026995. New York: Scholastic, 1999.
ISBN 0590978985, HBB, $16.95.
616.02’5. Emergency medicine. 48 p. Elementary.
In an 8 1/2 x 11 size format, Emergency invites
children to appreciate the role of emergency
medical workers. Open Emergency and see an
active scene—from vehicles, ambulances and
helicopters, protective clothing and scrub pants,
suture kits and portable X-ray machines, to the
doctors, nurses, paramedics, technicians and
others who devote their shifts to making people
well.
Color action pictures, attractively placed
headings and subheadings, and real life
application make Masoff’s work a drama of
interest. While written for children as an aid to
lessening fear of the unknown, Emergency could
be read by youth and adults and capture a lot of
information and understanding. Clearly this is
an outstanding title with lots of input in fortyeight
pages. An index enables one to find
specific points.
Masoff, a Scout leader for the past seven years,
came into contact with their sponsor, The Fire
Department, and learned that rescue work and
emergency medical care were a high percentage
of their calls. That prompted her to share the
story of these caring people. The first-hand
observations add to the care with which details
are shared and make the graphics compelling
without being sensationalized.
Leroy Hommerding, Director, Fort Myers Beach P.L. District, Fort
Myers, Florida
The Kids Can Press jumbo book of
gardening, written by Karyn Morris;
illustrated by Jane Kurisu. Toronto, Ont.:
Kids Can Press, 2000. ISBN 1550746901,
PAP, $14.95.
635. Gardening. 240 p. Elementary (Middle school).
Juvenile gardening books often make the
mistake of condescending to young readers.
Author Karyn Morris treats her readers with
respect. Within the pages of her book, The Kids
Can Press Jumbo Book of Gardening, Morris
explains basic plant requirements for optimum
growth. She addresses how to plot out a garden,
prepare the soil, and perform garden
maintenance.
From Victory, Teepee, and Herb gardens to
Miniature, Native, and Hanging gardens, Morris
presents a large assortment of gardening styles
and shapes to fit the interests of any child. She
covers wildlife and native gardens, school and
community gardens. There is even a section on
attracting various wildlife and eliminating pests
in the garden. Illustrations by Jane Kurisu
abound on each page, complimenting the simple
yet informative text with black and white
drawings accented with green.
Minor concerns may include the use of an old
Iroquois tale called the Three Sisters, which
speaks of the Sky woman who created the world
as the basis for a garden design using fish heads.
Other mystical references include a page for
creating a fairy garden and the wives’ tale that
basil keeps witches away. Overall, this book is
an excellent resource for anyone interested in
nurturing a love for nature and earth sciences
through gardening.
Joanne M. Haffly, Homeschool Parent/Writer, Gig Harbor,
Washington
Where once there was a wood, by Denise
Fleming. LCCN 95018906. New York:
Henry Holt, 1996. ISBN 0805037616,
HBB, $6.95.
639.9’20. Wildlife attracting; Wildlife conservation.
unp. Elementary.
Denise Fleming’s book, Where Once There Was
a Wood, contains not only a wonderful parade of
woodland, meadow, and creek wildlife done in
paper pulp paintings, but also a subtle message:
Wild creatures need space, shelter, water, and
food to survive. The habitats represented in the
book were once near Fleming’s home in Ohio
and were part of the inspiration for her first
book, In the Tall, Tall Grass; these habitats were
destroyed during the making of a neighboring
housing development. Before they disappeared,
she collected and dried bits of the plants that
were there. These bits were then incorporated
into the pulp of the painting that wraps around
the book’s front and back covers and in the
white borders of each painting inside—except
for one, the double spread painting at the story’s
end that shows what stands there now “…houses
side by side twenty houses deep.”
Fleming dedicates her book to “.Indigo, Sam,
Emily, Molly, and Rachel—The Future”—the
children of two of her friends and her own
daughter, since her desire, in writing the story,
was to motivate children (and the grownups who
care about them) to notice and perhaps save the
habitats around them before it becomes too late,
as it was in Fleming’s own neighborhood.
To help readers inspired by her story, Fleming
included in the back of the book several pages of
information on building wildlife refuges in
backyards or other areas and a page of addresses
that readers can use to send off for more
information on wildlife attraction and
preservation. The combination of lovely nature
paintings done in Fleming’s unique style (her
most detailed efforts to date), the slow poetic
story and gentle ending warning, and the
information provided to help interested readers
go further with the subject make Where Once
There Was a Wood a valuable addition to any
library used by children.
Betty Winslow, Bowling Green Christian Academy, Bowling Green,
Ohio
The wonderful way babies are made, by
Larry Christenson; illustrated by Cheri
Bladholm. LCCN 00008940.
Minneapolis: Bethany Backyard, Bethany
House, 2000. ISBN 0764223410, HBB,
$10.99.
649’.65. Sex--Religious aspects--Christianity; Sex
instruction for children. 48 p. Elementary (Small
children).
Using creation as a starting point and ending
with Jesus’ virgin birth, The Wonderful Way
Babies Are Made, covers human reproduction
from a completely biblical perspective.
Focusing on God’s plan for reproduction, basic
biological information covers only a few pages.
On each page, information is presented two
different ways. There is a simplified rhyming
verse with larger print for younger children. For
older children smaller print inside a box
provides more detailed information. For
younger children, intercourse is only referred to
as making love and not all details are divulged
or body parts named. For older readers more
information is imparted. Body parts are named
and the terms intercourse and making love are
used interchangeably. By basing the entire book
on God’s plan, the author is able to naturally
instill that reproduction is reserved for mothers
and fathers who are married. A brief mention is
made that making love is very pleasant and
people want to do it outside of marriage, but that
isn’t part of God’s plan.
Author Larry Christenson, recommends parents
read this with their children, no matter what
their age. Beautiful watercolor illustrations by
Cheri Bladholm complement the gentle text
nicely. On the page where making love is
discussed, there is a drawing of a woman on top
of a man in bed. Mostly covered with blankets,
bare shoulders are shown. Other pictures are of
human and animal families with their young or
are biblical illustrations. This would be a great
resource for parents wanting to give their
children the whole picture, not just the clinical
facts.
Elizabeth Coleman, Freelance Writer, Tumwater, Washington
700’s—The Arts and Recreation
★
Crafts for all seasons, by Kathy Ross;
illustrated by Vicky Enright. LCCN
99052760. Brookfield, Ct.: The Millbrook
Press, 2000. ISBN 076131346X, HBB,
$19.95.
745.5. Handicraft; Seasons. 176 p. Elementary.
Kathy Ross has assembled a collection of crafts
that will inspire a child’s imagination in her
book Crafts For All Seasons. She begins with
fall and has twenty crafts for each season. Each
craft has a pictorial list of supplies needed. She
also provides numbered and illustrated
instructions. The crafts apply not only to the
holidays that occur during a particular season,
such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, St.
Patrick’s Day, and Father’s Day, but she also
includes events or characteristics of that
particular season, such as the first day of school,
snowmen, spring flowers, and weddings.
Halloween is not included.
This craft book has a wonderful balance of
crafts that need a little parental help, and those
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