AMAZING ISLANDS

A compendium of oddly interesting facts about islands, large and small, and their human and animal inhabitants.

Weiss and Hyndman open by defining island and other names associated with this geographical term, like “islet, skerry, or cay—these are names for very small islands” and “ait—a small island, often found in a river or lake.” Subsequent double-page spreads introduce individual islands or island groups like the Galápagos, Cuba, the British Isles, and Sri Lanka. In no particular arrangement, topical spreads are intermixed. Lists of large and small islands, “[y]oungest natural islands,” and a world map showing the locations of the islands mentioned will satisfy reference buffs. The illustrations feature a heavy emphasis on green and blue tones, sometimes muted, and occasionally obscuring the small print of the text, making it difficult to read some descriptions. The layouts are varied and lively, with realistic details of animals and plants, and occasional foldouts add both more space for information and a bit of excitement. The text and the illustrations usually complement each other well, but, unfortunately, on the spread on river islands, the text mentions the Empire State Building (nowhere to be found in the picture) but not the Freedom Tower (which dominates the skyline). People pictured are diverse, but the depictions of “island peoples” tend toward the exoticized.

Curious kids may enjoy browsing through this cornucopia of island facts.