One Well; The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss

A timely title for our drought-ridden state this year. One Well is an enjoyable but urgent plea to save our planet's water supply. Short chapters with well-themed titles share the story that ALL things on earth are completely dependant on this non-renewable resource. "The amount of water on earth doesn't change - there's no more water now ...than when dinosaurs walked the earth." Interesting little factiods decorate each double page spread, sharing hard-to-imagine statistics and adding more urgency to the message.
The art didn't work for me though. It's very colorful and attractively done with a script-y font for chapter headings but the artwork's less structured nature fell flat for me. The blocks color used to get the extra facts in were distracting. A few spreads were broken in to blocks with small pictures to illustrate each fact, these seemed to work better than the larger illustrations that were broken up.
Overall, though, it is an attractive, readable, book with an important message. The back includes a section for students to plan ways to learn more or become active in water conservation. There is also a section for parents and teachers that offers even more inf. A very thorough index is included as well.

Tracking trash: flotsam, jetsam, and the science of ocean motion, by Loree Griffin Burns

Dr. Curtis Ebbesmeyer is a scientist and an expert on flotsam and jetsam. He tracks loads of sneakers and plastic bathtub toys that have fallen from cargo ships and washed up on beaches around the world in order to understand the ocean's currents. Aided by amateur beachcombers and computer simulations, Ebbesmeyer's work is fascinating to read about. The discovery that there are "garbage patches" where currents have distributed loads of our trash is a cautionary reminder of our impact on the health of our oceans and our earth.

Connect: Flotsam, by David Wiesner (2006)

Grades 4-8