PLANET POWER

With water, wind, sun, and its own subterranean heat, our Earth can supply green electricity to power human activities.

This exploration of energy options presents six alternatives to the fossil fuels that currently dominate our electrical power supply, each using a different force to generate power. Each power source is described in brief abcb rhyming stanzas accompanied by a few sentences of explanation and two illustrations on a pair of spreads; they are described in more detail in extensive backmatter. The examples include hydropower from a dam in Paraguay, solar farms in India, wind farms in northern China, tidal turbines in New York Harbor, geothermal power in Kenya, and wave power in Gibraltar. The first 29 pages are likely intended for reading aloud, but the rhymes and rhythm strain, and the four-beat pulses become tedious. Spreads include a title indicating the energy source; important words are set in boldface and defined in context, but there is no glossary or index. The last section is by far the most useful, with simple explanations and diagrams that facilitate understanding of the similarities and differences among these power sources and their working parts. Sadly, while the writer rightly criticizes the way fossil fuels have damaged the environment, she does not touch on environmental changes caused by dams, fields of solar farms, windmills, etc.

Look at the illustrations, skip the poetry, and learn from the prose.