Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest

Web of Life #1

by Madeleine Dunphy, Michael Rothman (Illustrator)

Using cumulative verse, this colorful picture book introduces children to the swinging monkeys, upside-down-hanging sloths, graceful caimans and stalking jaguars that make up the Amazon rainforest, while giving young readers an understanding of the interdependency of life.

Exotic environments like the tropical rain forest have long held a fascination for young readers. Through singsong text, kids will discover how all living things in the rain forest rely on one another for their existence, and that when one of these animals or plants is killed off or goes extinct, the web of life is broken. Luminous paintings by Michael Rothman capture the untamed beauty of this timeless, endangered environment. This book is a must have for any young naturalist (ages 3-8) hoping to learn about how all life is connected in the natural world.

Other Books in the HERE IS ANTARCTICA, HERE IS THE AFRICAN SAVANNA, HERE IS THE ARCTIC WINTER, HERE IS THE CORAL REEF, HERE IS THE SOUTHWESTERN DESERT and HERE IS THE WETLAND. Free downloadable activities can be found on the publisher's website.

Genres: Science, Picture Books, Childrens, Nature, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Madeleine Dunphy’s books have been published by Hyperion Books for Children, Millbrook Press, and her own publishing company, Web of Life Children’s Books—a publishing company devoted to publishing picture books about the environment. Madeleine is also a teacher, activist and mother.

Madeleine has taught special programs at the California Academy of Sciences, Lawrence Hall of Science, Museum of Children’s Art and at dozens of elementary schools in northern California and abroad. She has a BA in anthropology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a MA in education from Mills College.

Madeleine has traveled extensively to research her various books. Her travels include visiting the mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, camping out in the Amazon rain forest in Peru, visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and scuba diving with sea turtles in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Madeleine lives in Oakland, California with her husband, daughter, dog, two cats and a hamster.

Reviews

[Two Hearts Homeschool · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clunky hard to read disjointed prose - one star for the writing, extra star for the illustrations

[What April's Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun book about the rain forest, written in the same progressive repeating style as "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly".

[Lara Lleverino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent narrative, lyrical, living science picture book

[Christine Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyrical words and lush, naturalistic paintings introduce children to the tropical rain forest and the animals that live within its wet, green world. From swinging monkeys and upside-down-hanging sloths to graceful caimans and stalking jaguars, Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest envelops young readers in a stunning jungle while teaching them an important lesson about the ecosystem. Madeleine Dunphy's rhythmical, cumulative text shows how each plant and animal of the rain forest is inextricably linked with the others in a chain of life. Michael Rothman's deeply hued and shadowed paintings brilliantly evoke this singular environment.
Subject:
Rain forest ecology -- Juvenile literature
Rain forest animals -- Juvenile literature
Rain forest plants -- Juvenile literature
Rain forests -- Juvenile literature
Ecology -- Juvenile literature

Note: This book will work great for storytime.

[Ouida Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Madeleine Dunphy

Title: Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest

Plot: This book introduces children to the tropical rain forest and the animals that live within its wet, green world. The book includes some of the animals such as swinging monkeys and upside-down-hanging sloths to graceful caimans and stalking jaguars.

Setting: The Tropical Rain Forest

Theme: Science; Rain Forest

Style: Nonfiction; Picture Book

Copyright: 1994

Notes: This is a good book to teach the tropical rain forest and the animals that live in the rain forest.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice repetitive text with vibrant illustrations. The only thing I found irritating about this book was some very specific vocabulary like "bromeliad," for snake and "caiman" for crocodile. At the end of the book, there is a page that gives the full name of each animal specific to the rain forest and I think that would have been enough.

[Jeana Wert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book does a good job of showing children a place that they most likely have never seen before. The pictures are vibrant and colorful and the illustrator does a great job of portraying the rain forest. I also liked this book because it also showed the different animals living in the rainforest and how they all need one another to survive. This another great educational book.

[Alexandria Shafer]

I like the pictures in the book without them it wouldn't be much of a book. I don't find it very informational even tho it does show what different animals and things are in the rainforest. It pretty much just says here's this animal that live in this tree or eats this, it doesn't really go into much detail.

[Kristy Mcghee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations

[Jaimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a repetitious book about the animals who live int the Tropical Rain Forest. Great illustrations!