RAIN, RAIN, RAINFOREST

Guiberson, one of the best science writers around for younger readers, trails a tree sloth as, between one deluge and the next, it makes its sloooooow way down to the ground for an infrequent toilette, then returns to the rain-forest canopy. Meanwhile, all sorts of other local residents pass in review, from the moths and other insects dwelling in the sloth’s fur, to tree frogs, howler monkeys, and, for one scary swoop, a harpy eagle. With typically inventive use of texture and paint, Jenkins’s paper collages depict the creatures, ants to a visiting scientist collecting specimens of medicinal plants, in simplified but realistic natural settings. Vicarious visits to rain forests abound, but this vivid, engrossing slice of life makes a worthy companion or replacement for such essential titles as Madeleine Dunphy’s Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest (1994) or Kathryn Lasky’s Most Beautiful Roof in the World (1997). (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-10)