The Nature Girls

In Aki’s follow-up to The Weather Girls, readers join the titular Nature Girls, a group of trekkers who are eager to visit the world’s biomes. From scuba diving while “a pod of dolphins swims nearby” to riding on the back of a camel who “takes us for a bumpy ride” across the desert, these curious girls circle the globe. Spreads show the girls soaring in an airplane, riding in a dog sled, and outlined against a dark, starry sky. An informative note summarizes the featured biomes—aquatic, desert, grassland, tundra, and forest. Illustrations that show the girls in pith helmets veer uncomfortably toward the aesthetic of colonial travelers, but Aki’s bouncing prose pairs with bright landscapes that teem with equally colorful plants and animals (“The forest’s lush and filled with sound”) and provide an enticing invitation to young readers: “There’s more to see and do and know.” Ages 4–8. [em](Mar.) [/em]