PLANET PATROL

A well-meant but not particularly useful call to eco-action combines brief descriptions of several habitats and common threats to them with references to environmental initiatives undertaken—often by children—in various countries, plus mentions of various forms of waste and pollution. Along with being careless with her facts—no, “sustainable” farming is not a new approach, nor is air “made mostly of two gases: oxygen and carbon dioxide”—the author offers vague, often impractical “Action Tips” and wanders into strange territory near the end with allusions to family planning and the unhealthy detritus of warfare. Cartoon illustrations add more decoration than information. Young activists will draw better information and direction from 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do To Save the Earth (1990), or Lorbiecki’s own Earthwise series (1992). (Nonfiction. 8-10)