underGROUND (review)

Spare poetic text describes the multitude of activities that can be found taking place beneath the soil: "Creatures dig/ and run around./ Past highways and byways./ Squirm-ways and worm-ways./ Digging furrows and burrows,/ round roots and bones,/ rocks and stones." A rhyming refrain ("Low down./ Way down./ Underground") opens and closes this introduction to animal life under the dirt, and a closing spread helpfully names and describes the various creatures that are depicted throughout the book. The information presented in this end matter is brief and concise in accordance with its youthful audience, and the thumbnail illustrations will prove immensely useful to readers, who may have some trouble identifying a few of the animals pictured on the previous pages. It can occasionally be a bit tricky to find the burrowing creatures amid the earth they inhabit, so viewers will appreciate additional time for closer exploration; the intriguing inclusion of "copy transfer elements, such as a photocopied key, toy car, or wrench that are "hidden" in the soil, also add further reward for poring over the pages. Despite the slight visual confusion of some pictures, this is a very serviceable and age-appropriate introduction to studies of underground fauna, and a fine book to share before going outside to dig in the dirt.