SCARECROW!

A survey of devices (including real people) that have been used to scare away birds (and some other pests): The book's a little repetitious and miscellaneous and not very well organized, but does include a substantial array of interesting facts about ``homemade figures...used around the world to protect precious crops for over three thousand years.'' Best are the detailed crosshatched drawings and more formal paintings depicting a great variety of these appealing or scary figures. Not as well crafted and informative as Giblin's The Scarecrow Book (1980, o.p.), but a useful visual resource. (Nonfiction. 8-12)