Ann Newmark

This DK Eyewitness book on chemistry contains busy pages full of photos and text that cover the pages. The text contains the history of chemistry, the study of chemistry, and chemistry of everyday things (from plastics to mushrooms). The book also contains a time line, interesting "fast facts" on chemistry, a list of other resources (i.e. web sites and museums), an index, and a glossary.

To the best of my knowledge, the information contained within the book is accurate. My knowledge of the DK Eyewitness series also lends credibility to the text. The pages are organized by topic ("history of chemistry," "chemistry of plants," etc) but the pages are extremely busy with text and pictures places all over the page. The pages might be overwhelming to some readers and especially appealing to others. Overall, the book is beautifully designed with inquiring young minds in mind. The combination of multiple pictures in multiple places on the page and differently-sized text boxes on each page makes this book perfect for both occasional browsing and extended reading. In other words, students could leaf through the book for a few minutes and learn something new or they could sit down with the book for hours and read it from cover to cover.

Highly recommended for elementary and middle school libraries.… (mere)