From Jean Craighead George, best-loved author of more than eighty nature books for young readers, comes another marvelous story about a complex culture, family importance, and the vast relationship between humans and the natural world. This is one of her best, along the same line as the provocative WATER SKY--the story of a young man who learns about the whales of Arctic Alaska--and THE TALKING EARTH, about a girl who rows through the Everglades, befriending animals along the way. Although Ms. George is best-known for her classics, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN and the Newbery Medal-winning JULIE OF THE WOLVES, her other novels are great adventures, too. SHARK BENEATH THE REEF is the story of Tomas Torres, who, at fourteen, is learning about his changing home and trying to cope with the new decisions he must face, the most important being his choice to become a fisherman or a marine biologist. A great shark only complicates this decision, as Tomas's dream is to kill the shark and carry it into his small Mexican town above his head, with the bells of the mission tower ringing in praise. However, it is when Tomas comes face-to-face with the shark that he realizes how vital it is to his family's well-being, and he forgets his dream and thinks, more sensibly, like a man. The ending is one of the best parts about the story, when Tomas and his teacher discuss the varying faces of nature and how it cannot be controlled, although humans may think they'd like to and can. The entire story sparkles with details about the teeming life of the seaside environment, interesting, well-described characters, and the importance of legends and heroes to many cultures. Nature and animal lovers will enjoy reading about the different creatures and birds found in this part of the world, although not much is given to the shark to allay fears about its legendary ferocity.

The book, Shark Beneath the Reef, by Jean Craighead George is a wonderfully intriguing story and a magic to read. The tale of an adolescent Mexican boy growing into manhood and his dreams of becoming a fisherman is all a wonderful story in itself. But put together with his family's downfall, the price of growing up, and best of all, his epic adventures in the reefs, it is phenomenal. It is a delightful and emotional way of getting a dose of a dream, let alone a truly wonderful work of art. It is a masterpiece. Shark Beneath the Reef is an excellent book to read, especially for young adults because it is very detailed and full of adventure. It is detailed and has the reader turning pages constantly. The amount of detail is so great that it gives the reader an idea of what it is like to live in another world, whether an improvement or not from the average American teen's life today. For instance, Tomás, the main character's adventures in the coral reefs make you feel like you are really there. The detail leads you to wonder what the main character's mind tells him to do, and what he will do with his unusual talents. Besides containing great detail, the book is just plain capturing! Risking lives, a family's struggle, and strong friendships spice up the story and conclude the book making you hungry for more each time. For example, when Tomás is in a life-threatening situation with a huge shark, you can feel what he must be thinking, facing the shark. This book is a wonderful way of spending your reading time. Although this book is incredibly fun and inspiring to read, there was one part of it that might not appeal to everyone. The majority of the book is to the point and a wonderful experience, but the beginning of it is just a little bit vague and difficult to understand. It may not appeal to people who don't enjoy adventure stories or nature, but it will be a dream come true to those who do. It just requires patience because in the end the whole plot ties together. Don't let the beginning discourage you to finish the book, because you will be missing out on a wonderful tale of a boy who just wanted to dream, but whose dream became reality. Shark Beneath the Reef is a "must read" book.

Shark Beneath the Reef is an excellent book about a Mexican boy who lives near the Sea of Cortez. His family catches and sells sharks for a living. He heard about an enormous shark who lives under the coral shelf. He dreams of catching the shark and holding it above his head in the plaza as a hero. He is also making his mind on whether he is going to school or becoming a shark fisherman. Meanwhile, his family is suffering because the sharks have gone out of the area and they have very little to sell. The government officials also wants to begin taxing the fishermen because they are making the beach a tourist site. The family camp is on that beach, so they try to avoid the the officials as much as they can. I liked this book was because of the plot. It was action sometimes and drama at another. The positions of the plot sections were completely mixed up, but exactly in order. The moral was also astounding. I am still amazed at how the story ended out. I thought it would be a simple decision, but it turned out to be completely different. Absoluteley excellent literature. You have got to read it!

The illustrations are realistic and high quality. I have issus wth the organization of the verses and the verses not matching the illustrations.

One problem lies in that each verse cites up to five different animals and that not all the animals are pictured on the pages. This is very confusing for my four year old who asks me where a certain animal is pictured and it simply is not there. Other pages where the verse references time of day (afternoon) and no animals, show animals. Why not have pictured simple landscapes with skies that relate to that time of day instead? For example the picture for noon doesn't even show a sun, let alone a bright shining sun, it shows a close up of bison, and bison are not mentioned in that passage at all.

Sometimes the animals within one passage are not even related to each other by habitat. An example is mentioning a stork, killdeer and a cardinal in the same passage. Yes, they are all birds but they just aren't in the same habitat, preventing them from being depicted in an illustration together. I'd have prefered mentioning three ocean dwelling creatures within one passage, even if some were birds, some fish, and some ocean dwelling mammals.

I do love picture books that feature seasonal themes or time-of-day themes. I also love books that feature animals.

I have never seen such an annoying arrangement of verses and such a mismatch of words with illustrations in a picture book for young children. For this confusion and annoyance, I grant one star. I dislike it so much that I can't stand to read it to my children and am donating it to my local library.

A great children's book with wonderful illustrations that will spark young children's interest into the animals they may send around them.

I have always loved George's work and now there is a book that even the youngest of children can enjoy, from this nature loving Newberry Medal-winning author.

To date I have bought four copies as gifts for friends and family members who just had newborn babies.

This is simply a wonderful book! I truly enjoyed using it while tutoring a fourth grade remedial reader because it was simple, yet beautifully worded and superbly illustrated. Each illustration is a marvelous nature portrait in itself. My fourth grade student (who happens to be very interested in science) savored each lovely portrait, as we talked about the animals and environments depicted in each one. Though the words are few and simple, the book avoids being overly childish. Rather, it respectfully presents the cycle of the day (morning, noon and night) and the beauty of various animals as they act in their natural environments throughout the day.

As I was reading this book it did't tell me that much about anything except that this did this and that did that. If I were you I would not buy this book. Although it is my opinion on the book, you might really like it.

Naturalist Jean Craighead George introduces us to the world of the mountain lion, the road runner, the cactus, the kangaroo rat, the ringtailed cat, the swift fox, the elf owl, the coyote, and the bombadier beetle in this book as she did wolves and caribou in JULIE OF THE WOLVES and peregrine falcons in MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. A young Papago Indian girl named Bird Wing and her mother live in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. This usually arid place is about to fall victim to a terrible thunderstorm and a flash flood. Bird Wing and all the animals of the desert struggle to find shelter before the flood. Some will survive--and some will not. This is a beautiful story about the close connection between human beings and all living things, and the unpredictable ways of nature. Other books in the ONE DAY series that include exciting natural disasters are ONE DAY IN THE ALPINE TUNDRA and ONE DAY IN THE PRAIRIE. There is also the fascinating ONE DAY IN THE WOODS and ONE DAY IN THE TROPICAL RAIN FOREST. And don't forget Jean Craighead George's 80+ stories about nature, like The Thirteen Moons series and THERE'S AN OWL IN THE SHOWER.

Yet another wonderful book by an author very much in tune with nature and ecological concerns. She teaches while she entertains. Having lived in the region portrayed in this book, it became a gift to young friends back in Minnesota to introduce them to a COMPLETELY different world. Yielded fun discussion and comparison. They wondered at and enjoyed it very much!

The Talking Earth is a story about a young Seminole girl, Billie Wind, who is in disbelief of her tribe's beliefs on talking animals and spirits. Although she wants to believe in the culture, she does not think this makes any sense. In school she is learning the scientific reasons for things, such as pollution, and her ancestor's reasons for nature just don't match up. She goes to live in the Everglades until she hears the animals talk and sees the spirits. She does not believe it will ever happen. Throughout the story Billie grows and changes. She learns how to survive in the wilderness, and befriends animals, such as an otter, that help her. Through this experience she begins to understand her tribes beliefs, and gains a stronger bond with nature. The only problem is: is this bond strong enough to survive the challenges she meets?

The author, Jean Craighead George, does a great job at painting a picture of the Everglades through her imagery and detail. This story is also easy to relate to, as everyone has doubts about beliefs of other people sometime in his/her life. However, this detail often made the book difficult to understand. This book would be a good choice for multicultural studies in the classroom; however, the teacher would need to be reading and discussing with the students. If I had trouble with it children definitely would. Personally, I don't think I will ever read this book again, but after reading the review by a third grader, I see that it is possible to enjoy it. I believe the key to a child enjoying the book is the help of his/her teacher. So, from a future teacher's viewpoint, if you liked the book, read it to others, otherwise, stay away from it; and, if you haven't read it yet, I wouldn't recommend it.

Talking Earth is a very exciting book to read. The main character, Billie Wind, is a doubter of her tribe's beliefs and has to be punished. For her punishment, she chose to go to the Everglades to learn about her tribe's beliefs. There, Billie makes friends like Petang, the otter, Coootchobee, a panther, and Burden, a turtle. How will Billie Wind survive in the dangerous Everglades? Will she survive? Read the book to find out.

Billie Wind developed from the beginning of the book to the end. In the beginning of the book Billie Wind didn't care about her tribe's traditions. As time went by, though, she started to use the traditions to survive. At the end of the book, Billie tried to make Oats Tiger (now known as Hurricane Tiger) believe in the traditions. Billie Wind has learned much from her punishment and is using it to teach others.

Kerra S.
Grade 5
Mr. Sizemore's class
Pleasant Plains Elementary

The Talking Earth
by Jean Craighead George

The Talking Earth is about a Seminole girl named Billy Wind who is very curious. When her tribal elder spoke of spirits everywhere there is, Billie said she did not believe in that. The religious leaders got very angry and asked what punishment she should give herself. In sarcasm, she said that she should go to the pay-hay-okee (the Everglades)and stay until she heard the spirits of the animals talk, see the magical serpent, and find the little people who lived under the ground. The people agreed while she wondered in shock because it was just a joke. She was still forced to enter the pay-hay-okee and hear the spirits herself. Therefore, she stayed there and lived with an otter, a panther, and a turtle. At the end, she endured a hurricane in a cavern and lived to tell the tale.
The reason I liked this book is because it had a lot to do with the flow of nature. It told about why the Seminoles said there were animal gods and magical things. It also said how nature has its own special type of flow and to disrupt it can result in disaster. It also had a lot of feeling into what happenned around her and why it happenned.
I also liked the book because it was very interesting. I couldn't stop reading it until I had no other choice. It grabbed me in the ears and pulled me into the book with all my senses so that I could feel everything around me. In the tense parts, I was scared for Billy Wind and I was also relieved when that part was over. It was like real life!
My favorite part was when Billy wind had just entered the pa-hay-okee. There was a great fire that burned down the whole forest that she was in. She found a strange pit that seemed to be inhabitted before. She found a baby otter inside a small tunnel and named him Petang. She also noticed there were small artifacts in the walls that were related to the Seminole's. She stayed and tried to reach home and get an archeologist to the site.

The book Case Of the Missing Cutthroat is the worst book I have ever read. There is no point in the story. me and my friends joke about suffering from the Jean Craighead George disease. By the way don't read this book.

Originally titled HOOK A FISH, CATCH A MOUNTAIN, this is another Eco-Mystery from children's greatest nature writer, Jean Craighead George, author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES and MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. However, this book never quite gets to level of those classics. The story concerns Spinner, a teenager who is taken on a fishing trip against her will. After she catches a huge, nearly extinct cutthroat troat, she ends up going on a wild adventure through the woods to solve the mystery. I never could get really into the book, as Spinner is not a very likeable character for most of the story and some of it is hard to understand. But great descriptions--like an exciting lightning storm on the side of a cliff to a dangerous grizzly bear attack--come to the rescue. Any young ecologist or naturalist will want to read this story. Don't forget the other Eco-Mysteries--WHO REALLY KILLED COCK ROBIN?, about a boy who must solve the mystery of the death of his town's feathered mascot; THE MISSING 'GATOR OF GUMBO LIMBO, which concerns a girl who must track down a majestic alligator in the Florida Everglades; and THE FIRE-BUG CONNECTION. Also, Ms. George's other eighty or so novels should be more rewarding than THE CASE OF THE MISSING CUTTHROATS.

When Spinner and her dad go fishing for the weekend her dad promises her if she caught a whopper he would throw it back,but when she catches the family prize cutthroat trout her father keeps him. These kinds of fish are very rare in that part of the river so Spinner and her brave cousin Al set off to solve "The Case of the Missing Cutthroats"!

I had to do this as a book report. There is not much to talk about it. I just hate it and wish I could rip it up. I did not like it because they changed the subject to much. I did not like that animals talked. It was very confusing. And too much detail, instead of sticking to the story line of the boy and grandfather on a mining trip.

One of the other reviewers on this page does not seem to know what he/she is talking about. The animals in the book do not talk. Instead, they are projected with dignity and accuracy. Jean Craighead George, author of the Julie books, the My Side of the Mountain books, and nearly eighty other wonderful nature stories for children, wrote DIPPER OF COPPER CREEK with her husband John George (they are now divorced), as well as VULPES THE RED FOX, VISON THE MINK, and other fine but, in my opinion, not appropriately recognized nature books. This is a wonderful book, and the story of a young boy becoming a man while his favorite birds become independent around him, is unforgettable. Any nature lover will appreciate this book. You must look deep into the poetic and beautiful text and know that this is indeed not a book to be ripped apart.

This was one of the most fantastic books I have ever read! I love the way Ms. George trys to see what is would be like from the Dippers' point of view. Keep up the good work! Dipper (*v*)

This adventure story from Jean Craighead George, award-winning author of more than eighty critically acclaimed books for young readers, came in 1979, six years after she won the prestigious Newbery Medal for her classic JULIE OF THE WOLVES, and twenty years after she won the silver Newbery Honor for the famous MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN. Here again, the story deals with kids struggling to survive in a remote environment--and the result is no less engaging. Joe and Crowbar, two adventurous friends, are sent out by Joe's uncle to do a suspicious task that involves rafting over the dangerous wild rapids of the Colorado River. As they carry out the orders, their raft and most of their supplies are destroyed or lost down the river, and the boys must learn to fend for themselves in the mighty Grand Canyon and the hot, unforgiving desert. There, they find a mute wild child called Lizard Boy, and, while trying to stay alive, make an attempt to teach him language, and learn to respect and admire his strange ways. There are many details similar to those in MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN--the way the boys build shelter, prepare food, and spend their time. Other times, there are problems with the realism of the story--for example, the boys are readily able to eat lizards and dead cats, and sometimes the dialogue is not like the way kids would really talk today. When the truth about Joe's uncle's mysterious reason for the deadly task are revealed, the reader may be confused. Otherwise, this is a fine novel of the importance of friendship and an interesting look at the environment of the Grand Canyon. Readers should be captivated by the interesting plot and the good use of strong adjectives and powerful descriptions that the author devotes to the story.

The Fire Bug Connection wasn't all that interesting to me. There were two parts that I liked; When the bats could tell their batlets apart, and when the fire bugs died, they went 'POP'. I dislike this book because it felt like we were reading a science text book, more then a novel. I think that it was interesting when the bats could tell their batlets apart because I thought that bats were dumb mammals that were creepy, ugly,and their only intenisions are to freak people out. Now I know that they are much smarter then they look. I also thought that when the bugs went 'POP', it was neat. They died because a bug could die from going through metamorphoses. The reason that they died was because the sand paper in their cage had a hormone in it that a fir balsim tree had in it. The book felt like a science book I think because it had all these technical terms and I got confused alot of the time with all the creatures names, and pet names and everytying. Thats another reason why I dislike the novel. I give The Fire Bug Connection only two stars because I only thought that two parts of the book was interesting. I also didnt prefer the book because it seemed like reading a science text book, more then a novel. That's why I only gave it two stars.

Mystery and ecology collide--with varying fascinating, tedious, informative, thrilling, and confusing results--in Jean Craighead George's Eco-Mysteries series. The author of JULIE OF THE WOLVES, MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN, and nearly one hundred other distinguished nature stories for young readers, Ms. George also wrote four mysteries--WHO REALLY KILLED COCK ROBIN?, THE CASE OF THE MISSING CUTTHROATS, THE MISSING 'GATOR OF GUMBO LIMBO, and this book, THE FIRE BUG CONNECTION. All include details into our environment and the factors that threaten to destroy parts of it. THE FIRE BUG CONNECTION falls a bit short of the other books in its series for a number of reasons. The story concerns a young entomologist named Maggie, and her enemy-turned-partner Mitch, as they try to solve the mystery of the deaths of Maggie's birthday present, a group of radiant fire bugs from the Czech Republic, at Maggie's home in a Maine Biological Research Station--Bug Camp. Mitch is convinced that global warming committed the crimes; Maggie immediately dismisses this idea (I never quite understood why). Acid rain is a factor, too, as well as chemicals that may exist in the paper in the fire bugs' containers, and, finally, the most unusual culprits, a raven and a balsam fir tree. The ending of the story seems overly complicated, but this may not be so for more scientific mature readers who, like Maggie and Mitch, know about the existence of many kinds of chemicals and where they can be found. I found myself concentrating less on the mystery of the destruction of the fire bugs and more on the amusing details around Bug Camp--Maggie's friends: a clan of bats, a wasp, and a spider--and how Mitch ever figured how to get rid of a computer virus without using a special disinfectant program. Anyone who is interested in the tiny but amazing world of insects and other "creepy" but splendid critters like ravens and bats, or anyone whose favorite things in school include science and reading mysteries, will find this book enjoyable, despite its occasional shortcomings.

The main character in this book is a girl named Maggie. Every summer she goes to bug camp. A boy named Mitch also attends the camp. Maggie doesn't like him and thinks he's a pest.

Her mom, who studies the effect of acid rain on trees also goes to bug camp. Mr. Capek, another graduate scientist, comes to bug camp. It's Maggies birthday when he arrives so he gives her a present: a collection of firebugs.

Maggie loves them because of their colors. She promises to make Mr. capek a pillow, which is stuffed with pine neddles from a balsam fir. Mr. Capek, Maggies mom, and a bunch of others go on a field expedition.

While they are away Maggies firebugs pop and die. She notices that they won't grow up and calls them " peter pans". Maggie suspects that its the ravens in the area that caused the problem since they mean death in Mr. Capek's country.

Mitch does many tests on Maggies animals including Areaneus the spider, Myotis the bat, and a wasp.

Finally, Maggie suspects that the paper in the bug cage is to blame. She wonders if the chlorine in the paper was the culprit. Mitch takes a bug and puts chlorine on it but its not a good test, because chlorine will kill any bug. Then Mitch finds out it was a hormone that wouldn't let the bugs grow. Since it was the hormone the mystery had been solved.

This was not such a good book because of many reasons. It all took place in the same setting without much excitment. I like mysteries but not this kind.