Clark County School District Library Services - Kelly Groenlykke
Text and photographs describe less-than-pleasant and unexpected habitats and the animals that live in them, focusing on dead trees and forest floors, and discussing ants, worms, termites, millipedes, centipedes, pill bugs, and beetles. The photographs are interesting and colorful. They show magnified insects that live in the habitat. Facts and descriptions are accurate and consistent with the story and setting. Recommended—Kelly Groenlykke, O.K. Adcock <i> Clark County School District Library Services</i> 3/19/2010
March 19, 2010NSTA Recommends - David Tumbarello
Heinemann-Raintree adds to its Read Me collection with a book series that investigates common, but often uncovered, close-to-home habitats. The Horrible Habitats series includes seven primary grade–level books that explore sewers and gutters, compost heaps, streets and alleys, caves and crevices, marshes and pools, garbage cans and landfills, and this volume. Students of all ages will be intrigued and pleasantly disgusted by the 30 or more pages of text and illustrations about each habitat. In Rotten Logs and Forest Floors, readers will discover page after page of images and descriptions of microbes, bacteria, fungi, termites, and much more. Each book contains topics that span one or two pages, with highlighted key words and plenty of descriptive and captioned color photography. Many sections contain "Fun Facts" that complement the text with a vivid fact about the habitat dweller and may cause a roar in the classroom. With "Fun Facts," students will learn that giant leeches can be as long as your arm, female seagulls vomit food into the beaks of their baby chicks, and scorpions have little claws that come out of their mouths to pull at their prey. The "Fun Facts" are sure to bring a chorus of "ooh’s and ahh’s" from young students. Each book ends with four sections—an activity related to the habitat, a glossary, a bibliography entitled "Find Out More" that can be used for enrichment, and a child-friendly index. Teachers should use this as an opportunity to discuss with students the difference between peer-reviewed scholarship and websites created for entertainment. With informative text, highlighted key words, vivid illustrations, Fun Facts, activities, glossaries, bibliographies, and indexes, the books in this series provide the structure of informative text books students will encounter in upper grades and beyond. - Reviewed by David Tumbarello, Fourth grade teacher <i> NSTA Recommends</i> Posted on website 10/21/2010
October 21, 2010Library Media Connection - Suzanne Libra
While not good reading material during mealtime, these books will have high interest appeal. If you want to know what goes on in your compost pile or sewer, these books will tell you in some detail. Each book in the series opens with a "What is a habitat?" two-page spread. Although the text is almost identical in each book, the illustrations are different. After the introductory spread, the books go into the specifics of each habitat, discussing the animals, insects, and microbes that exist in the different environments. Each two-page spread has illustrations, captions, text, and often sidebars. Each book also includes a hands-on activity, glossary, further reading list, and website links. Although these books are short, they pack in a lot of useful scientific information in a student-friendly format. My second grader browsed them, and my middle school students read them. This would be a good set to have in the room during a unit on habitats or adaptation. Recommended.–Suzanne Libra, Teacher Librarian, Silver Hills Middle School, Westminster, Colorado [Editor’s Note: Also available in paperback.]<i>Library Media Connection</i> May/June 2010
November 22, 2011Richardson Independent School District - Carla Lawson
This book tells about the habitat of a fallen log and the forest floor. First it explains what a habitat is and then tells about the tiny creatures called microbes that live on the log. It also tells about all the small animals, some so small you can’t see them without a microscope, that live on the log. The books are filled with fun facts and pictures that keep the students interested. This can be used with young children for early research about habitats. –Carla Lawson, W.E. Chalmers <i>Richardson Independent School District</i> May 2010
November 22, 2011Science & Children - David Tumbarello
In Rotten Logs and Forest Floors, readers will discover page after page of images and descriptions of microbes, bacteria, fungi, termites , and more. Topics span one or two pages, with highlighted keywords and plenty of descriptive and captioned color photography. Many sections contain "Fun Facts" that complement the text with a vivid fact about the habitat dweller and may cause a roar in the classroom. With Fun Facts, students will learn that giant leeches can be as long as your arm, female seagulls vomit food into the beaks of their baby chicks, and scorpions have little claws that come out of their mouths to pull at their prey. The Fun Facts are sure to bring a chorus of oohs and ahhs from young students. The books ends with four sections – an activity related to the habitat, a glossary, a bibliography entitled "Find Out More" that can be used for enrichment, and a child-friendly index. Teachers should use this as an opportunity to discuss with students the difference between peer-reviewed scholarship and websites created for entertainment. With informative text, highlighted keywords, vivid illustrations, Fun Facts, activities, glossaries, bibliographies, and indexes, the book provides the structure of informative textbooks students will encounter in upper grades and beyond. – David Tumbarello <i> Science & Children</i> January 2011
November 22, 2011Norfolk Public Schools - B. Monroe
"Rotten Logs and Forest Floors" introduces you to some things that lives on a forest floor. – B. Monroe, Norview Middle School <i>Norfolk Public Schools</i>3/15/2010
March 15, 2010
