This Is My Planet: The Kids' Guide to Global Warming.

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

Global warming is a complex subject, and this book attempts to explain it.

This Is My Planet begins with an overview of global warming and then looks at the effect it is having on the Far North and South, the oceans, land, and people. Thornhill covers a surprising number of concepts in an attempt to provide readers with enough background to understand global warming and to have a sense of all of the issues that are related to it. She explains the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, the water cycle, and basic climate concepts. After that, subjects range from the “year without summer” in 1815 to the Kyoto Accord. In between she adds commentary on glacier retreat, Hurricane Katrina, traditional knowledge, an ice-free Northwest Passage, introduced species, sea-life migration, deforestation, desertification, rising sea levels, mass extinction, alternative energy, heritage seeds, population explosion, space colonies, energy conservation, and even rubber duckies.

Each page features several photographs, with paragraphs of varying lengths superimposed on them. Some of these paragraphs consist of simple facts (“Thawing permafrost is making ponds appear that never existed before, while others drain away”), while others encompass large concepts (“the ocean conveyor belt”).

At first glance it looks as if Thornhill threw every eco-buzzword onto the pages, but the threads of the text are actually woven quite carefully. The book is bright and cheerful, and gives upper-elementary readers a good introduction to global warming. Recommended.