The Water Cycle. (Earth's Cycles). Cheryl Jakab. Collingwood, ON: Saunders Book Co., 2010. 32 pp., pbk., $10.95. ISBN 978-1-926660-91-2. Subject Heading: Hydrologic cycle-Juvenile literature. Grades 2-5 / Ages 7-10. Review by Margaret Snow. **** /4

excerpt:

Living with Nature

We all depend on the balance of nature for our survival.
If people continue to disturb Earth's cycles, it will upset the balance of nature.
Understanding the Earth's cycles helps us to care for Earth and live in harmony with nature.

"The Earth does not belong to us: we belong to the Earth!"
(Chief Seattle Suquamish, leader, about 1854)

The Water Cycle is colourful, contains a wealth of knowledge that is well laid out, with clearly written explanations breaking up a huge topic into segments beginning with an overview of the Earth's Natural Cycles and their importance for a balance in nature. From there, it is classified into two-page spreads chunking the information by title and then subtitles into manageable tidbits for student comprehension.

• WATER - The importance of water
• THE WATER CYCLE - Solid, liquid and gas
• RAIN - Amount of rainfall
• RIVERS & OCEANS - Groundwater, Ocean currents
• WATER VAPOUR - Evaporation
• CLOUDS - Types of Clouds
• FROZEN WATER - Ice, Snow & hail
• THE BALANCE OF NATURE - Water & the seasons, Water, rocks & soils, Water & plants, Water & animals, Water & food
• PEOPLE & WATER - Polluting water, Wasting fresh water
• WATER CONSERVATION - Collecting rainwater
• SAVING WATER - Reduce water use, Recycle, An experiment in collecting fresh water

     The book concludes with a glossary of 14 key terms that have been bolded throughout the book and an index which again assists young learners in finding what they need.

     The Water Cycle abounds with dominant blue tone photography which lends itself to the topic. The titles of topics are rendered in a red font on a yellow background further, and the use of these primary colours draws in the young reader. The book is stocked with diagrams, graphic organizers, point form notes, graphs, symbols and key question boxes that blend the huge topic into a cohesive book and which facilitate its being used as a whole or broken into parts for either the child trying to organize materials for a project or a teacher trying to segment ideas in lesson preparation. Students will like the fast paced move from topic to topic which enhances the text's flow and readability. 

     The quality of writing, the attention grabbing photography, the book's being filled with facts and its readability, plus its inclusion of text features that teachers like to reinforce for more in-depth comprehension, all lead to my recommending this book. It would make an excellent addition to school libraries in facilitating primary and junior students' creation of projects, as well as for their nonfiction, high interest reading. Additionally, The Water Cycle would be a definite asset as a background resource for the classroom teacher implementing the Grade 2 Ontario Science Curriculum for the Water Cycle.   

Since The Water Cycle is one of six books in Cheryl Jakab's "Earth Cycles" series, which also include The Animal Life Cycle, The Food Cycle, The Plant Life Cycle, The Rock Cycle. The Seasons Cycle, I know I will be looking at the rest of the collection as school library resources.

Highly Recommended.

Margaret Snow is a teacher-librarian, computer and media literacy teacher in a small, rural school in Southwestern Ontario.

NEXT REVIEW |TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - April 9, 2010.