Skimming through this book its impossible to not notice how striking and vibrant the photographs are. Each major subtopic has a beautiful two-page spread depicting animal and plant life, statistics, maps, schematics, and cross-sections. The size of the text suggests that the target audience is probably grades 3-6. I could easily imagine children picking up this book, being captivated by it, and read at least several sections if not the whole book. The forward from Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth, is very moving and he describes the implications of our impact on earth and our responsibility to preserve it. The glossary and index is very user friendly and navigable. ( )