| ________________
CM . . . . Volume XXIII Number 21 . . . . February 10, 2017
excerpt:
Five volumes comprise the "Life Cycles" series. These titles cover topics such as life cycle, habitat, reproduction, birth, migration, and environmental threats to the continuation of the species. Bright, attractive covers, a pleasing layout, interesting trivia and excellent colour photographs add to the reader's comprehension of the text and overall enjoyment of the books. A table of contents, a glossary and an index are provided. This series belongs to the "media-enhanced" AV² collection (AV referring to "added value audio visual"). In order to access the AV² aspect of the books, readers must log in to the AV² web page and enter the book's unique code which is found on the second page. A further security step is involved in which readers must answer a question about the book in order to continue. Once the final step is complete, readers will find 10 different activities to try. These activities, one per double-page spread, vary in degree of difficulty. There are videos, web links, fill in the blank sheets (some with words, others with numbers), sequencing activities and a true/false quiz. Some of the activities require readers to verify their answers with facts from the books. One of the risks of employing web-based technology in a series such as this is that the technology is not always reliable. In this case, there were two web sites whose pages were unavailable. Upon clicking the link, a message appeared stating "page not found" and another stated "server error". There are more than 9,600 species of birds which have further been classified into 23 main groups called orders. Birds focuses on four of those orders: falconiformes (birds of prey), anseriformes (waterfowl), charadriiformes (wading birds and shorebirds), and struthioniformes (flightless birds). This title also describes the four stages of feather development, mating rituals, migration, and food webs. Here, readers are introduced to terms such as producers, tertiary consumers and decomposers, but with little or no explanation. It might also have been a good idea, instead of merely telling the sizes of the smallest and largest bird eggs, to show, by means of a comparative diagram, a life-sized ostrich egg and a hummingbird egg. The related AV² activities not only vary in difficulty, but they also vary in quality or relevance. As an example, the first video shows the life cycle of a bluebird, from the time its parents build a nest in preparation for egg laying to the time that two broods from the same parents are ready to migrate, but the second video merely shows a peacock, with its feathers fanned out, strutting around. There is much to learn in the first video, but almost nothing in the second. A fun, but juvenile, life cycles game and a cartoon video will appeal to the younger members of the target audience, while some of the matching activities will be more difficult. Fish explains that there are three main types of fish: bony, cartilaginous and jawless. They can live in saltwater or freshwater and at varying depths. Some lay eggs while others give birth to live young. Eggs are sometimes kept safe in a mermaid's purse or in a bubble nest. These are just a few of the facts that readers will learn in this book. There is a chart which compares the stages of metamorphosis in the three main types of fish. Little known trivia will sustain the reader's interest, an example of which is that the pygmy goby has a lifespan of only 59 days, while the rougheye rockfish can live for 100-200 years. With regard to the AV² activities, these are very similar to those in the previous title and require the same kinds of skills to complete. However, some are redundant. For instance, why include two almost-identical videos showing the spawning process of salmon? It would have been better if one of the videos had featured another type of fish, perhaps one of the cartilaginous or jawless fish. One web link leads to an article about the different types of fins and their purpose while another discusses the effects of climate change and pollution on oceans. Though this last article is a good one, the reading level is a bit too high for the target audience. With some revision in the audio visual selections, this could be a worthwhile series. Recommended with Reservations. Gail Hamilton is a former teacher-librarian in Winnipeg, MB.
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.
Next Review |
Table of Contents for This Issue
- February 10, 2017. |
