Food Chain & Food Web Book Reviews
Cycles in Nature Food Chains 2001 by Theresa Greenaway (Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, Austin, TX 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $26 hardcover; paperback edition is much less costly]
The author combines excellent photographs that are very relevant to the text with diagrams that help to explain food chains, food webs and nutrient cycling. The text is well written and easy to follow. Some human impacts on food chains are also described. Insets are interspersed throughout the book encouraging readers to apply what they have read by making observations and conducting activities that will help to reinforce the concept. This is a nice touch! I only have a few minor complaints about the book. The cover shows arrows moving clockwise to different pictures. To a young reader, this may incorrectly convey the impression that energy moves in a circular pattern. The arrows for the food chain diagrams should have decreased in size to convey the loss of energy from one feeding level to the next. The human food chain diagram on page 16 is too simplistic and somewhat misleading: Zooplankton would feed on the photosynthetic plankton; There may be several feeding levels of fish; Polar bears prey extensively on seals as do native Inuits; Listing polar bears as predators on humans is dubious even though the author states "possibly." [Recommended]
World of Wonder - The Food Chain 2004 by Frank Staub (Creative Education, Mankato, MN 32 pp.) [Elementary School] -[Cost: @$27]
A very well written book with good attention to accuracy except for lumping detritivores in as decomposers (a very common mistake). The photographs are excellent and provide useful insight. At least one diagram of a food chain and a food web would have been helpful. [Recommended]
The Library of Food Chains and Food Webs 2002 by Alice B. McGinty (The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York, NY 24 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $19 each]
Producers in the Food
Herbivores in the Food Chain
Carnivores in the Food Chain
Omnivores in the Food Chain
Decomposers in the Food Chain
Scavengers in the Food Chain
These books should have been condensed into one or two volumes by reducing the number of pictures to a few compelling ones, using some well drawn diagrams and avoiding the text redundancy (e.g., describing the food chain concept each time). While the series has some good points – there are some nice photographs, the text is very easy to read and many examples of organisms at various feeding levels are described – there are numerous factual errors throughout the different books. The following are some examples:
Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds: The Story of a Food Web 2003 by Victoria Crenson (Marshall Cavendish, Tarrytown, NY 35 pp.) [Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost: @$16.95]
This is an excellent easy to read book that describes a specific coastal marine food web. The artwork beautifully illustrates the basic natural history of the Horseshoe Crab, as well as some of the aquatic and terrestrial organisms that directly or indirectly relies on the horseshoe crab eggs to meet their energy needs. There are some really nice artistic touches. For example, populations of various species are sometimes depicted rather than just a single representative. There is an absence of technical terms (e.g, using terms like herbivores or carnivores) and diagrams (e.g., food chain or food webs with connecting arrows); however, omitting them does not detract from the well written and scientifically accurate text. The author also nicely integrates several conservation themes. [Recommended]
The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten: A Book About Food Chains 1996 by Joanna Cole (Scholastic Inc., New York, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $3.50]
Ms. Frizzle is off again with her class on another fairy tale field trip aboard the Magic School Bus (MSB). As the MSB moves courageously through the ocean, Ms. Frizzle teaches her students about a marine food chain. The artwork is excellent and the writing is accurate and entertaining. This short but delightful book emphasizes the connections and interdependence of all living things that occur in nature. [Recommended]
Food Chain Frenzy (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book) 2003 by Anne Capeci (Scholastic Inc., New York, NY 92 pp.) [Upper Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost @ $5.00]
This is an extremely enjoyable and educationally rich story. On the way to the Science Museum to participate in the Incredible Edible Science Challenge, Ms. Frizzle detours her Magic School Bus. To help prepare her students they engage in a magical adventure riding a light beam into a plant to study photosynthesis, and becoming at times a Magic School Snake and a Magic School Fish. There is lively dialogue among the students as they make observations and draw conclusions in order to solve six Incredible Edible Riddles that relate to food chains, food webs, ecological pyramids and man's impact on them. Your students will learn these concepts reading this book! The book relies upon a story line and uses a few b/w illustrations, which are very relevant to the text. It lacks the glitter of the above reviewed MSB book but the scientifically accurate text and entertaining dialogue more than make up for this. One small (but common) error is the grouping of organisms that are really detritivores (e.g., earthworms) in as decomposers. [Recommended]
Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs 1995 by Patricia Lauber (Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY 32 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost: @$5.00]
A child reading this instructional book will really learn the meaning of a food chain and food web. The book is very easy to read and is supplemented with artwork that nicely illustrates a variety of food chains and food webs, using either connecting arrows or by drawing organisms inside of one another (a clever idea). In addition, the author provides several examples of human food chains, and also describes how food chains/webs can be disrupted by human interference. Unfortunately, the author did not depict the loss of energy along a food chain nor adequately explain how each feeding level uses the energy. Furthermore, no real groupings are made (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores). One big mistake is the statement "All food chains begin with green plants. Green plants are the only living things that can make their own food." Some bacteria and protista can also photosynthesize. [Recommended]
Food Chains and Food Webs – From Producers to Decomposers 2004 by Louise and Richard Spilsbury (Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL 32 pp) [Elementary School] - [Cost @$7]
The text is easy to read and photos show animals feeding. The descriptions of food webs in different ecosystems are in some cases accompanied by nice food web diagrams. Unfortunately, the authors only relate decomposition to forest ecosystems rather than all ecosystems. A few errors occur. The statements "All food chains and food webs start with plants." and "The producers in deep lakes are algae…" ignore the contribution of photosynthetic bacteria. [Recommended]
Food Chains 2002 by Peter Riley (Franklin Watts, Danbury, CT 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $7 paperback]
The text is very easy to read and is complemented with many good photographs and artwork. The book focuses primarily on helping the reader to understand the food chain concept by applying the concept to a variety of ecosystems (pond, open ocean, tide pool, grassland, forest, rain forest and desert). The book also describes and illustrates a variety of adaptations (primarily feeding in contrast to antipredator) that are used by organisms in different ecosystems. Some effort, however, should have been made to convey the loss of energy along a food chain and the reasons why this loss occurs. The book starts off by stating that all living things are divided into two groups - plants and animals. Three other major groups not mentioned are bacteria, protista and fungi. [Recommended]
Hungry Animals: My First Look at a Food Chain 1997 by Pamela Hickman (Kids Can Press Ltd., Canada 17 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost @ $8]
A wonderful small book that gives a very simple explanation of one food chain in a field where some children are playing. The artwork is outstanding! Foldouts very nicely illustrate some of the adaptations used by the animals to acquire their food. Subtle attention to scientific detail is impressive. For example, the toad in the field is eaten by what looks like a hognose snake whose diet indeed consists mainly of toads. The owl that captures the snake can be identified as a great gray owl which, while like most owls is nocturnal, will also hunt at times during the day as is pictured in the artwork. [Recommended]
Food Chains and Food Webs 2001 by Holly Wallace (Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL 32 pp) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $28 - Paperback @ $7.50]
Diagrams and some good photos are combined with an easy to read text. Unfortunately, the book is marred by numerous factual errors. Some examples are as follows: A niche is not merely a physical place in an ecosystem but rather an organism's functional role. Plants do not start off every food chain. An ecosystem is not a community and a habitat but represents a community of organisms where the members interact with one another and with their nonliving environment. Not all algae are one-celled plants - some are multicellular. It is not necessarily true that "if two types of animals are competing for grass some will starve." Biomass is the dry weight of an organism and not the "total amount of each individual type of living thing in a food chain." Saying "producers are the plants and trees." is misleading since trees are plants. Despite using two ecological pyramids (numbers and biomass) the loss of energy along a food chain is not adequately explained. Diagramming a simple water cycle, oxygen cycle and nutrient cycle would have been more beneficial and easier to follow than trying to simplify the carbon and nitrogen cycles. [Not Recommended]
The Library of Food Chains and Food Webs: Food Chains in a Forest Habitat 2002 by Isaac Nadeau (The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York, NY 24 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost @ $19 each] [Other books in the series that were not reviewed include Food Chains in a Backyard Habitat, …a Desert Habitat, …a Meadow Habitat, …a Pond Habitat and …a Tide Pool Habitat.]
The easy to read text uses a variety of photographs to convey the concepts of a food chain and food web in forest ecosystem. A few good illustrations (e.g., energy flow, forest vegetation layers) and more pictures showing organisms actually feeding would have enhanced this book. The statement that "Decomposers form the final link in a food chain" is misleading as it suggests that they are just at the end of the food chain when, in reality, they decompose dead organisms from all parts of the food chain. Furthermore, despite the author stating that energy is used up as it flows through a food chain, and nutrients returned to the soil, the comment "The food chain in the forest goes full circle!" might leave a young reader forgetting that only nutrients recycle and think energy flow is cyclic. [Recommended]
Food Chains 1998 by A. Silverstein, V. Silverstein and L. Silverstein (Twenty-first Century Books, Brookfield, CT, NY 64 pp.) [Upper Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost: @$26.90]
Unfortunately, the book begins with an example (used for years in many general biology textbooks) of how man can upset nature's ecological balance. [The example is also referred to several times elsewhere in the book.] The authors explain how humans at one time eliminated top level carnivores (mountain lions, wolves and coyotes) from the Kaibab National Forest (in Arizona) causing the deer population (formerly preyed upon by these animals) to increase and then abruptly crash when their food supply became exhausted. However, in 1970, Graeme Caughley cast serious doubt on the validity of this example. He cited the fact that domestic livestock (e.g., sheep) had been drastically reduced at the same time as the predators. Thus, reduced competition between deer and sheep for food would have favored an increase in the deer population regardless of the presence or absence of predator control. Due to this critique, the Kaibab predator control example of how humans can upset ecological balance has now been eliminated from most biological textbooks. The authors should not have made this mistake! The book also would have benefited by using diagrams when describing food chains, food webs, nutrient cycles and bioaccumulation. However, the book is well written and aside from the above mistake provides a lot of good, easy to understand ecological information. A glossary is included and 31 internet web sites are listed that relate to the book's theme. [Recommended as a library reference only if the Kaibab example can be noted in the book as incorrect.]
The Food Chain 1988 by Malcom Penny (The Bookwright Press, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @$34 but used copies are available for about half this price]
This book focuses solely on the theme of food chains and unfortunately fails to mention that nature is made up of arrays of interrelated food chains called food webs. While there is a nice diagram of a food chain, the arrows do not change in size from one feeding level to the next. Following an elementary explanation of food chains, the author nicely reinforces the concept by describing and illustrating a variety of terrestrial and aquatic food chains: backyard, tundra, African plains, rain forest, lake, ocean tidal zone, coral reef and Antarctic ocean. The book is easy to read and the artwork is very good. It would have been helpful if the food chain illustrations for the different ecosystems had arrows connecting the organisms with color codes for producers, herbivores and carnivores. [Recommended]
What are Food Chains and Food Webs? 1998 by Bobbie Kalman & Jacqueline Langille (Crabtree Publishing Company, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $7]
The book blends artwork and pictures with an easy to read text. The authors devote space to describing some of the adaptations used by organisms to acquire energy and nutrients at each feeding level. Unlike many other books on food chains and food webs, the authors describe the detritus food web. Unfortunately, they do not provide a diagram to show one. Furthermore, they incorrectly call detritivores such as snails, slugs and earthworms decomposers. The illustrations of a forest, reef and arctic food web can be very misleading. They use red arrows to delineate some food chains in each food web but not all. Instead they add purple arrows and state that they show food webs, when in fact, they are really other food chains. Each entire diagram represents a food web. They incorrectly state that green plants "…are the only living things that can make their own food using sunlight." [Not Recommended]
Pass the Energy, Please! 1999 by Barbara Shaw McKinney (Dawn Publications, Nevada City, CA 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $8.00]
A brief, enjoyable, and easy to read book that is lively and set to rhyme. It includes excellent and relevant artwork. Energy flow along a food chain is eloquently and artistically depicted in a variety of ecosystems. One minor area that might mislead a young reader is the brief description of nutrient recycling. Food chains pass two things along - nutrients and energy. Nutrients get recycled through the decomposition process but energy is continually lost. This latter point is not adequately explained, and some readers might think energy is recycled which it is NOT. [Recommended]
The author combines excellent photographs that are very relevant to the text with diagrams that help to explain food chains, food webs and nutrient cycling. The text is well written and easy to follow. Some human impacts on food chains are also described. Insets are interspersed throughout the book encouraging readers to apply what they have read by making observations and conducting activities that will help to reinforce the concept. This is a nice touch! I only have a few minor complaints about the book. The cover shows arrows moving clockwise to different pictures. To a young reader, this may incorrectly convey the impression that energy moves in a circular pattern. The arrows for the food chain diagrams should have decreased in size to convey the loss of energy from one feeding level to the next. The human food chain diagram on page 16 is too simplistic and somewhat misleading: Zooplankton would feed on the photosynthetic plankton; There may be several feeding levels of fish; Polar bears prey extensively on seals as do native Inuits; Listing polar bears as predators on humans is dubious even though the author states "possibly." [Recommended]
World of Wonder - The Food Chain 2004 by Frank Staub (Creative Education, Mankato, MN 32 pp.) [Elementary School] -[Cost: @$27]
A very well written book with good attention to accuracy except for lumping detritivores in as decomposers (a very common mistake). The photographs are excellent and provide useful insight. At least one diagram of a food chain and a food web would have been helpful. [Recommended]
The Library of Food Chains and Food Webs 2002 by Alice B. McGinty (The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York, NY 24 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $19 each]
Producers in the Food
Herbivores in the Food Chain
Carnivores in the Food Chain
Omnivores in the Food Chain
Decomposers in the Food Chain
Scavengers in the Food Chain
These books should have been condensed into one or two volumes by reducing the number of pictures to a few compelling ones, using some well drawn diagrams and avoiding the text redundancy (e.g., describing the food chain concept each time). While the series has some good points – there are some nice photographs, the text is very easy to read and many examples of organisms at various feeding levels are described – there are numerous factual errors throughout the different books. The following are some examples:
- Stating that plants "…are the only members of the biome's food chains that can make their own food." is incorrect. Producers can also be photosynthetic bacteria and photosynthetic protista.
- The author incorrectly states that all decomposers are tiny. However, fungi are important decomposers and many fungi are not tiny.
- Reptiles are defined as "animals that move on their bellies, either by sliding or crawling." Yet turtles, alligators, crocodiles, tuataras and many lizards are able to walk on legs.
- Earthworms are not decomposers. They are detritivores.
- Vultures are no longer considered birds of prey. They are more closely related to storks. In addition to using sight to find carrion as the author mentions, vultures rely heavily upon their sense of smell which the author does not mention.
- The wording of several sentences might lead a reader to believe that baleen whales eat plants.
- "Every food chain ends when the plant or animal at the end of the chain dies." and claiming that decomposers are "the last link in the food chain" are misleading statements. Death and decomposition occur at each feeding level, and food chains end because of energy loss.
- An ecosystem is incorrectly defined as "The surroundings in which an animal lives." An ecosystem is a community of organisms where the members interact with one another and with their nonliving environment.
- Stating that ecology is "the study of how living things are linked with each other and with Earth." is misleading since Earth includes both living and nonliving things. [Not Recommended]
Horseshoe Crabs and Shorebirds: The Story of a Food Web 2003 by Victoria Crenson (Marshall Cavendish, Tarrytown, NY 35 pp.) [Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost: @$16.95]
This is an excellent easy to read book that describes a specific coastal marine food web. The artwork beautifully illustrates the basic natural history of the Horseshoe Crab, as well as some of the aquatic and terrestrial organisms that directly or indirectly relies on the horseshoe crab eggs to meet their energy needs. There are some really nice artistic touches. For example, populations of various species are sometimes depicted rather than just a single representative. There is an absence of technical terms (e.g, using terms like herbivores or carnivores) and diagrams (e.g., food chain or food webs with connecting arrows); however, omitting them does not detract from the well written and scientifically accurate text. The author also nicely integrates several conservation themes. [Recommended]
The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten: A Book About Food Chains 1996 by Joanna Cole (Scholastic Inc., New York, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $3.50]
Ms. Frizzle is off again with her class on another fairy tale field trip aboard the Magic School Bus (MSB). As the MSB moves courageously through the ocean, Ms. Frizzle teaches her students about a marine food chain. The artwork is excellent and the writing is accurate and entertaining. This short but delightful book emphasizes the connections and interdependence of all living things that occur in nature. [Recommended]
Food Chain Frenzy (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book) 2003 by Anne Capeci (Scholastic Inc., New York, NY 92 pp.) [Upper Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost @ $5.00]
This is an extremely enjoyable and educationally rich story. On the way to the Science Museum to participate in the Incredible Edible Science Challenge, Ms. Frizzle detours her Magic School Bus. To help prepare her students they engage in a magical adventure riding a light beam into a plant to study photosynthesis, and becoming at times a Magic School Snake and a Magic School Fish. There is lively dialogue among the students as they make observations and draw conclusions in order to solve six Incredible Edible Riddles that relate to food chains, food webs, ecological pyramids and man's impact on them. Your students will learn these concepts reading this book! The book relies upon a story line and uses a few b/w illustrations, which are very relevant to the text. It lacks the glitter of the above reviewed MSB book but the scientifically accurate text and entertaining dialogue more than make up for this. One small (but common) error is the grouping of organisms that are really detritivores (e.g., earthworms) in as decomposers. [Recommended]
Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs 1995 by Patricia Lauber (Harper Collins Publishers, New York, NY 32 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost: @$5.00]
A child reading this instructional book will really learn the meaning of a food chain and food web. The book is very easy to read and is supplemented with artwork that nicely illustrates a variety of food chains and food webs, using either connecting arrows or by drawing organisms inside of one another (a clever idea). In addition, the author provides several examples of human food chains, and also describes how food chains/webs can be disrupted by human interference. Unfortunately, the author did not depict the loss of energy along a food chain nor adequately explain how each feeding level uses the energy. Furthermore, no real groupings are made (e.g., producers, herbivores, carnivores). One big mistake is the statement "All food chains begin with green plants. Green plants are the only living things that can make their own food." Some bacteria and protista can also photosynthesize. [Recommended]
Food Chains and Food Webs – From Producers to Decomposers 2004 by Louise and Richard Spilsbury (Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL 32 pp) [Elementary School] - [Cost @$7]
The text is easy to read and photos show animals feeding. The descriptions of food webs in different ecosystems are in some cases accompanied by nice food web diagrams. Unfortunately, the authors only relate decomposition to forest ecosystems rather than all ecosystems. A few errors occur. The statements "All food chains and food webs start with plants." and "The producers in deep lakes are algae…" ignore the contribution of photosynthetic bacteria. [Recommended]
Food Chains 2002 by Peter Riley (Franklin Watts, Danbury, CT 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $7 paperback]
The text is very easy to read and is complemented with many good photographs and artwork. The book focuses primarily on helping the reader to understand the food chain concept by applying the concept to a variety of ecosystems (pond, open ocean, tide pool, grassland, forest, rain forest and desert). The book also describes and illustrates a variety of adaptations (primarily feeding in contrast to antipredator) that are used by organisms in different ecosystems. Some effort, however, should have been made to convey the loss of energy along a food chain and the reasons why this loss occurs. The book starts off by stating that all living things are divided into two groups - plants and animals. Three other major groups not mentioned are bacteria, protista and fungi. [Recommended]
Hungry Animals: My First Look at a Food Chain 1997 by Pamela Hickman (Kids Can Press Ltd., Canada 17 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost @ $8]
A wonderful small book that gives a very simple explanation of one food chain in a field where some children are playing. The artwork is outstanding! Foldouts very nicely illustrate some of the adaptations used by the animals to acquire their food. Subtle attention to scientific detail is impressive. For example, the toad in the field is eaten by what looks like a hognose snake whose diet indeed consists mainly of toads. The owl that captures the snake can be identified as a great gray owl which, while like most owls is nocturnal, will also hunt at times during the day as is pictured in the artwork. [Recommended]
Food Chains and Food Webs 2001 by Holly Wallace (Heinemann Library, Chicago, IL 32 pp) [Elementary School] - [Cost @ $28 - Paperback @ $7.50]
Diagrams and some good photos are combined with an easy to read text. Unfortunately, the book is marred by numerous factual errors. Some examples are as follows: A niche is not merely a physical place in an ecosystem but rather an organism's functional role. Plants do not start off every food chain. An ecosystem is not a community and a habitat but represents a community of organisms where the members interact with one another and with their nonliving environment. Not all algae are one-celled plants - some are multicellular. It is not necessarily true that "if two types of animals are competing for grass some will starve." Biomass is the dry weight of an organism and not the "total amount of each individual type of living thing in a food chain." Saying "producers are the plants and trees." is misleading since trees are plants. Despite using two ecological pyramids (numbers and biomass) the loss of energy along a food chain is not adequately explained. Diagramming a simple water cycle, oxygen cycle and nutrient cycle would have been more beneficial and easier to follow than trying to simplify the carbon and nitrogen cycles. [Not Recommended]
The Library of Food Chains and Food Webs: Food Chains in a Forest Habitat 2002 by Isaac Nadeau (The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., New York, NY 24 pp.) [Early Elementary School] - [Cost @ $19 each] [Other books in the series that were not reviewed include Food Chains in a Backyard Habitat, …a Desert Habitat, …a Meadow Habitat, …a Pond Habitat and …a Tide Pool Habitat.]
The easy to read text uses a variety of photographs to convey the concepts of a food chain and food web in forest ecosystem. A few good illustrations (e.g., energy flow, forest vegetation layers) and more pictures showing organisms actually feeding would have enhanced this book. The statement that "Decomposers form the final link in a food chain" is misleading as it suggests that they are just at the end of the food chain when, in reality, they decompose dead organisms from all parts of the food chain. Furthermore, despite the author stating that energy is used up as it flows through a food chain, and nutrients returned to the soil, the comment "The food chain in the forest goes full circle!" might leave a young reader forgetting that only nutrients recycle and think energy flow is cyclic. [Recommended]
Food Chains 1998 by A. Silverstein, V. Silverstein and L. Silverstein (Twenty-first Century Books, Brookfield, CT, NY 64 pp.) [Upper Elementary - Middle School] - [Cost: @$26.90]
Unfortunately, the book begins with an example (used for years in many general biology textbooks) of how man can upset nature's ecological balance. [The example is also referred to several times elsewhere in the book.] The authors explain how humans at one time eliminated top level carnivores (mountain lions, wolves and coyotes) from the Kaibab National Forest (in Arizona) causing the deer population (formerly preyed upon by these animals) to increase and then abruptly crash when their food supply became exhausted. However, in 1970, Graeme Caughley cast serious doubt on the validity of this example. He cited the fact that domestic livestock (e.g., sheep) had been drastically reduced at the same time as the predators. Thus, reduced competition between deer and sheep for food would have favored an increase in the deer population regardless of the presence or absence of predator control. Due to this critique, the Kaibab predator control example of how humans can upset ecological balance has now been eliminated from most biological textbooks. The authors should not have made this mistake! The book also would have benefited by using diagrams when describing food chains, food webs, nutrient cycles and bioaccumulation. However, the book is well written and aside from the above mistake provides a lot of good, easy to understand ecological information. A glossary is included and 31 internet web sites are listed that relate to the book's theme. [Recommended as a library reference only if the Kaibab example can be noted in the book as incorrect.]
The Food Chain 1988 by Malcom Penny (The Bookwright Press, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @$34 but used copies are available for about half this price]
This book focuses solely on the theme of food chains and unfortunately fails to mention that nature is made up of arrays of interrelated food chains called food webs. While there is a nice diagram of a food chain, the arrows do not change in size from one feeding level to the next. Following an elementary explanation of food chains, the author nicely reinforces the concept by describing and illustrating a variety of terrestrial and aquatic food chains: backyard, tundra, African plains, rain forest, lake, ocean tidal zone, coral reef and Antarctic ocean. The book is easy to read and the artwork is very good. It would have been helpful if the food chain illustrations for the different ecosystems had arrows connecting the organisms with color codes for producers, herbivores and carnivores. [Recommended]
What are Food Chains and Food Webs? 1998 by Bobbie Kalman & Jacqueline Langille (Crabtree Publishing Company, NY 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $7]
The book blends artwork and pictures with an easy to read text. The authors devote space to describing some of the adaptations used by organisms to acquire energy and nutrients at each feeding level. Unlike many other books on food chains and food webs, the authors describe the detritus food web. Unfortunately, they do not provide a diagram to show one. Furthermore, they incorrectly call detritivores such as snails, slugs and earthworms decomposers. The illustrations of a forest, reef and arctic food web can be very misleading. They use red arrows to delineate some food chains in each food web but not all. Instead they add purple arrows and state that they show food webs, when in fact, they are really other food chains. Each entire diagram represents a food web. They incorrectly state that green plants "…are the only living things that can make their own food using sunlight." [Not Recommended]
Pass the Energy, Please! 1999 by Barbara Shaw McKinney (Dawn Publications, Nevada City, CA 32 pp.) [Elementary School] - [Cost: @ $8.00]
A brief, enjoyable, and easy to read book that is lively and set to rhyme. It includes excellent and relevant artwork. Energy flow along a food chain is eloquently and artistically depicted in a variety of ecosystems. One minor area that might mislead a young reader is the brief description of nutrient recycling. Food chains pass two things along - nutrients and energy. Nutrients get recycled through the decomposition process but energy is continually lost. This latter point is not adequately explained, and some readers might think energy is recycled which it is NOT. [Recommended]