Top to Bottom Down Under, written and illustrated by Ted and Betsy Lewin, is a truly engaging account of a few of the different types of wildlife native to Australia. Exploring the lands of the kangaroos, dingos, crocodiles, and more, the Lewins keep a good pace while scattering small side stories that will have readers laughing and quite intrigued. I love the way the Lewins use a tongue in cheek approach as they explain the facts. A children's book, this would be perfect for any sort of geography class in elementary school or middle school. Teaching high school, I can see incorporating some of the fun bits into a presentation, but do not think I would use this book to teach with. ( )

This is a good example of an informational book. The facts are accurate and up to date. There is some narrative information as well but the facts are clearly distinguishable from the story. The informational pieces are clear and not at all misleading. There are even pictures to illustrate the factual information.

Level: Intermediate

Australia from an American point of view. Marvelous pictures, which may be too grizzly for some readers (my 2-year old wants to look at the rotting fish over and over again, but your mileage may vary). The more I read it the more annoyed I become that it refers to "aboriginals" and "the aboriginal language" (there are lots of fascinating, distinct languages native to Australia -- and the peoples of tropical northern Australia and cooler southern Australia are not interchangeable!) I also get a queasy feeling as they talk about getting very close to wild animals expecting them to run away, and then sleeping next to them. This is not appropriate behaviour.

So we like the pictures, but a lot of editorial commentary is called for. ( )