In a Backyard

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

The Small Worlds series is designed to show “how plants and animals
live together in small environments.” The definition of “small” is
an elastic one, ranging from the space under a rock to the thousands of
hectares of a tundra.

Each of the books begins with a two-page illustration showing most of
the organisms together in their environment. The rest of the book is
dedicated to systematic descriptions of the various kinds of organisms.
The content is roughly half text and half photographs. The photos are
excellent. They are clear and have brilliant colors. There are some
remarkable close-ups in each book. In addition to the detailed text,
there are also “fantastic facts” highlighted every two or three
pages.

The focus of the books is appropriately tailored to the ecosystem under
discussion. In a House and In a Backyard deal more with the relationship
between the organisms and human beings. A Coral Reef and On the Tundra
look at the organisms’ adaptations to the particular environment. The
information in these books is quite detailed and dense, but not
overwhelming (for example, On the Tundra gives examples of plant
adaptation to extreme cold, but doesn’t detail all of the numerous
adaptations that exist). Each book ends with a glossary and an index.
These books will be excellent for student research projects. Highly
recommended.