Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest

Jenkins once again uses striking colorful paper collage illustrations to explore a topic. Here, he delves into the greatly varied marvels of the world, presenting the highest mountain, the hottest spot, the wettest place, the most active volcano, etc. Interesting charts help put sizes into perspective. For example, on the double-page spread that introduces the longest river, a side box shows the length of the Nile in comparison to that of other rivers as well as to the width of the United States. The oldest and deepest lake, Lake Baikal in Russia (5134 feet deep), is contrasted pictorially with the height of the Empire State Building (1250 feet). These visuals give young readers a full understanding of how amazing these natural wonders are. Each spread includes a map that shows where these places are located. Browsers will pick up this delightful picture book and read it through completely. This eye-catching introduction to geography will find a lot of use in libraries and classrooms.