Rau, Dana Meachen. U.S. Landforms.

Rau, Dana Meachen.      U.S. Landforms.   Scholastic/ Childrens Press   48p $28.00    978-0 531-24854-6           elem      Series: A True Book (Scholastic/Childrens)  E-BNe          

This book is an introduction to the subject of land forms, using formations found in the United States as examples of the main kinds of formations, such as mountains, caves, and dunes, and land forms created by erosion via glaciers, water, wind and mineralization.  What makes this book really special, aside from the topic and content, are the bold, splashy illustrations, text font and color, and bullet points (illustrated by arrows). The book grabs the reader at the cover (with its arrow pointed at Arches National Park) and holds his/her attention throughout.  A couple of the arrowed points include information about Mount Sneffels, named after a mountain in the Jules Verne book Journey to the Center of the Earth (page 15) and aKauai Wailua Falls in Hawaii (page 34).  Words in bold face throughout the text are defined in the glossary at the back of the book.  All of the illustrations are well placed with the associated text.  The book concludes with true statistics, a list of resources (print and web), a glossary and an index.     The series, complete in 16 titles, addresses a variety of the different fields of study within the earth sciences.  Bold illustrations, informative text and related information make the titles in this series ones that any elementary-age student will grab off the shelf.          --Lynn Fisher