Crow-Miller, Britt. World of Rot: Learn All About the Wriggly, Slimy, Super-Cool Decomposers We Couldn’t Live Without. Bruno Valasse, Illus. Storey, 09/2024. 80pp. Nonfiction. Trade $18.99. 978-1-6358-6669-8. GRADES 2–6. OUTSTANDING.
The wonderful and essential world of rot is all around you, on you, and in you. Slow down, open your eyes and nose, and get to know the decomposers. Bright, vibrantly colored, digitally enhanced illustrations evoke lino prints, Mexican folk art, and mid-century graphics, delivering elegant molecules, stunning slime molds, quirky flies, and voracious millipedes. Three irreverent, disgusting, fascinating, fun, and fact-packed chapters entrance readers with the who, what, where, when, and why. The decomposers are revealed in all their repellent glory, as they tirelessly unlock the nutrients our ecosystem needs to build new life. Back matter includes an index and well-described activities, explorations, and experiments. Review based on an ARC.
Melissa McAvoy—Retired