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Seven Natural Wonders of Central and South America


Seven Natural Wonders of Central and South America
by Michael Woods and Mary B. Woods
Twenty-First Century Books, 2012.  80 pgs.  Nonfiction

     Most of us can name some of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World--all manmade--and perhaps even a few of the shifting, subject to popular vote Wonders of the Modern world, but the endless supply of Wonders of the Natural World are laid out in fascinating fashion in a new series which begins with amazements galore in Latin America.  Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall is in Venezuela and was not named Angel falls because it looks like it is falling out of heaven, but because the U.S. pilot who "discovered" it was named James Angel.  The Atacama desert in Chile, the driest in the world, has some areas where rain has never fallen in recorded history. The Galapagos Islands and the Amazon River are better known, but there is still much interesting material here.  And how about Costa Rica's Poas Volcano, the only volcano in the world with sulfur lakes?  A terrific short read with engaging pictures, this is a good book--one in a series of Seven Natural Wonders . . . . for kids already interested in unusual geographies, or for children one might want to interest in the wider world.

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