Science Fact or Fiction? You Decide! (Crabtree Connections). Sarah Levete. St. Catharines, ON: Crabtree, 2011. 32 pp., pbk. & hc., $9.95 (pbk.), $20.76 (RLB.). ISBN 978-0-7787-9916-0 (pbk.), ISBN 978-0-7787-9895-0 (RLB). Subject Headings: Science-Miscellanea-Juvenile literature. Curiosities and wonders-Juvenile literature. Grades 3-4 / Ages 8-9. Review by Gail Hamilton. **½ /4

excerpt:

About 2,300 years ago, an ancient Roman writer called Plato talked about a huge wave swallowing up an island. This is how the story of Atlantis began.

We know that fierce floods and earthquakes can destroy towns, and cities, but there is usually some wreckage left from the disaster. There is none from Atlantis. So if it ever existed, where's the evidence?

Part of the 36-volume "Crabtree Connections" series, Science Fact or Fiction? You Decide! presents information about 11 different incredible events or ideas, then asks readers to determine whether these things are possible or not, or whether there is not enough proof to make an educated guess. The answers are provided in the last chapter. Topics vary and certainly would pique the reader's interest- the Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, aliens, time travel through wormholes, the lost city of Atlantis and the mummy's curse of King Tut's tomb, just to name a few. The author asks readers if they believe that robots could rule the world, that dinosaurs could make an appearance on earth if scientists obtained DNA from fossils or bones, if lightning can strike twice, and if people could be picked up by a tornado.

      The text provides only a few short paragraphs per topic. A text box, entitled "For Real", offers additional facts that might help readers to decide how to vote. For example, in the chapter about aliens, there is information about the strange wreckage, believed to be that of an alien spacecraft, found in 1947 in the desert near Roswell, New Mexico. Illustrations include a map, drawings and colour photographs that add to the book's appeal.

      A table of contents, a glossary and an index are provided along with a list of web sites, one per topic (and all of them interesting), for further research.

Recommended.

Gail Hamilton, a retired teacher-librarian, lives in Winnipeg, MB.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

Hosted by the University of Manitoba.

 

NEXT REVIEW | TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - October 21, 2011.

AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME