Welcome to the River of Grass by Jane Yolen (1 book) (32 pages)

Bibliographic Information:

Yolen, J. Welcome to the River of Grass. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

Grade Level Appropriateness:

2nd – 5th

Author Credibility:

The author conferred with a professor at the University of Massachusetts for the material dealing with the birds. She also worked with the faculty and staff at the Everglades National Park in Florida.

Summary of the Book:

This is a book of poems about the Everglades. It may just look like a river with a few plants to the naked eye, but underneath and all around there is life burst out. The poems talk about owls, tree bugs, birds, trees, and plants. Each poem is short and easy to understand.

Illustrations:

The illustrations were done in gouache on illustration board. It was illustrated by Laura Regan.

Features:

At the end of the book there is a “Did You Know?” section. It also gives a telephone number and websites to visit to find more information about the Everglades.

How I would Use the Book in My Classroom:

I would use this book while studying ecosystems.

Response:

I really enjoyed this book. The poems were short and to the point. They didn’t give too much information for the reader to get confused, but it gave enough that you learned something.

Related Text:

Everglades by Jean Craighead George