Rain Forests

by Nancy Smiler Levinson, Diane Dawson Hearn

Filled with important facts, an easy-to-read title uses clear, simple prose and vivid, color-drenched illustrations to teach beginning readers about rain forests from all over the world. By the creators of North Pole, South Pole. 10,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, School, Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2008

About the author

Nancy Smiler Levinson was born in 1938 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A graduate of the University of Minnesota, she worked as a reporter, researcher, editor, and Head Start teacher before taking time to raise her two children. It was while reading to her kids when they were toddlers that Levinson first became interested in writing for young people, and in 1981 she published her first novel for young readers, World of Her Own. The first of many critically acclaimed biographies came in 1981, and since then Levinson has written a variety of well-received fiction and nonfiction for beginning readers as well as middle grade and young adult audiences.

Levinson has also contributed articles and stories to such publications as Seventeen magazine, Highlights for Children, Library Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. She has been a tutor for disabled children. She lives in California, where she enjoys reading and attending theater and symphonies.

Reviews

[Melanie Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
"Rain Forests" is a nonfiction book all about rain forests. The book goes through many animals that live in the Rain Forest and how the Rain Forest meets their needs. Many birds, reptiles, and insects are mentioned. The book even discusses rain forests all over the world including Brazil and Costa Rica.

Evaluation:
I would definitely recommend this book to elementary school-aged students due to how informational it is as well as how great the pictures are. There are dozens of animals in the book that are labeled and allow the student to really get an understanding of the Rain Forest habitat.

Teaching Point:
Habitats is a very important third-grade standard and this book would be a great tool for teaching about the Rain Forest habitat. Students could pick a topic mentioned in the book (animal or place) and do a small project researching it so they would really grasp an understanding of the Rain Forest and what lives there and why.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was EXCEPTIONAL!!!!! The art work was gorgeous and it really helped me understand the kinds of animals that live in each layer of the rain forests. I've read several children's books on rain forests, and they've all done an excellent job explaining and exploring this wonderful ecosystem, but this book really helped me understand several things for the first time. A wonderful resource for teachers and parents to help little ones understand about this very important part of our planet. And a fun read for anyone, young or old, to learn more about the rain forest.

[Whirl Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a generic rainforest book since I couldn't find any specifically about Borneo. This featured a two-page spread on the animals and plants living in different rainforests around the world, including Borneo. It has nice illustrations and The Whirl Girl loved learning all of the different animals on the different pages. She was more interested in that than the factual information on each page, but the pictures alone held her attention.