ones illustrate the discussions.
Information is presented chronologi-
EARTH’S CHANGING CLIMATE SERIES. WORLD BOOK.
GR. 3–6.
Food, Water, and Climate Change. By Edward Ricciuti. 2016.
48p. illus. $170/set (9780716627128). 363.8.
Habitats and Climate Change. By Edward Ricciuti. 2016. 48p.
illus. $170/set (9780716627081). 577.27.
Understanding Climate Change. By Jeff De La Rosa. 2016.
48p. illus. $170/set (9780716627067). 551.6.
Wildlife and Climate Change. By Edward Ricciuti. 2016. 48p.
illus. $170/set (9780716627098). 577.27.
Climate change means more than the planet heating up, and these
titles in the Earth’s Changing Climate series (available as an eight-book
set) show how it impacts a wide range of the planet’s resources. Ac-
companied by high-quality color photographs of diverse scenes around
the world, each book focuses on a distinctive aspect of climate change
and explains the difference between climate change and global warm-
ing. Food, Water, and Climate Change looks at the challenges of raising
crops, livestock, and fish, as well as procuring fresh water, during cli-
mate change. Urban farming, gene modification, and other adaptations
are presented throughout. Habitats and Climate Change describes how
climate change is negatively affecting desert, ocean, freshwater, prairie,
woodland forest, rain forest, grassland, and tundra ecosystems. Specific
examples, such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Serengeti, pinpoint di-
rect changes. Understanding Climate Change gives an excellent overview
of the subject as it explains the greenhouse effect, global warming, past
causes of climate change, today’s human factors, and political controver-
sies. Wildlife and Climate Change discusses how climate change impacts
birds, aquatic animals, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. It
also provides specific examples of how butterflies, polar bears, and other
threatened animals must adapt or face extinction. All of the books sug-
gest possible solutions to improve climate problems. —Angela Leeper
EXPLORING WORLD HISTORY SERIES. MASON CREST.
GR. 5–7.
Africa. By Mason Crest. 2016. 48p. illus. $20.95
(9781422235300). 960.
India. By Mason Crest. 2016. 48p. illus. $20.95
(9781422235331). 954.
Latin America. By Mason Crest. 2016. 48p. illus. $20.95
(9781422235355). 980.
Polar Regions. By Mason Crest. 2016. 48p. illus. $20.95
(9781422235379). 998.
The slim, large-format volumes in the Exploring World History
series present broad overviews of countries, continents, and other geo-
graphic areas. Each book opens with one or two big maps, and small
70 Booklist March 1, 2016
cally. Although many volumes tell of exploration and colonization by
Europeans, their negative impact is often acknowledged. However, the
overall approach is more descriptive than analytical. The pages offer
columns of text, short sidebars, and many illustrations, such as repro-
ductions of period artworks, photos, and artifacts, along with modern
photos of landscape and historical sites. Beginning with the first hu-
mans and including twenty-first-century concerns, Africa devotes
significantly more space to Livingstone and Stanley’s explorations than
to the continent’s subsequent partition and colonization by European
nations. India opens with the Indus Valley Civilization and traces the
exploration, trade, religion, culture, conquest, colonization, and gov-
ernment of the subcontinent throughout its history. Examining this
diverse region as a whole, Latin America surveys its early people, great
civilizations, and changes after the arrival of European explorers and
conquerors. Polar Regions looks at early Arctic settlers, explorers of
polar regions, and the importance of the Arctic and Antarctic today.
Students looking for regional histories may find this colorfully illus-
trated series useful for school reports. —Carolyn Phelan
I SPY SERIES. CREATIVE COMPANY/CREATIVE
EDUCATION. GR. 1–3.
Spies in the CIA. By Laura K. Murray. Mar. 2016. 24p. illus.
$19.95 (9781608186167). 327.1273.
Spies in the KGB. By Laura K. Murray. Mar. 2016. 24p. illus.
$19.95 (9781608186174). 327.1247.
Spies in the Mossad. By Laura K. Murray. Mar. 2016. 24p.
illus. $19.95 (9781608186181). 327.125694.
Spies in the SIS. By Laura K. Murray. Mar. 2016. 24p. illus.
$19.95 (9781608186198). 327.1241.
The I Spy series offers the most basic of introductions to spy craft,
sometimes in language so simple that it confuses more than it clarifies.
Each book begins with an unnamed spy doing something dangerous—
jumping out of a plane, doing a dead drop in a train station, sending
a flashing code on a dark night. A few lines on each spread are then
given to particular hallmarks of the spying in each country, along with
profiles of famous spies. In CIA, children learn that America has had
spies since the 1700s and that espionage training occurs at the Farm in
Virginia. The full-page artwork varies in quality, from a good painting
of Revolutionary spy Mary Bowser to a relatively useless picture of an
unidentifiable metal “object for spying.” KGB introduces old spying
methods of the KGB (today’s SVR) and offers a few examples of spy
weapons. Mossad covers Israel’s history of spying and notes Mossad’s
mission to “keep Israel safe.” SIS gives the Brits’ intelligence agency a
cursory look, but despite the rich history of spying in Great Britain,
pages are wasted with sentences like, “Spies must be smart and brave.”
These short, flawed books are best used to pique children’s interest in
an ever-fascinating topic, particularly the concluding activity and link
to the International Spy Museum: KidSpy Zone. —Ilene Cooper
www.booklistreader.com
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permission.