Mysteries of the Supernatural - Hardcover

Grade 4-6?Two eye-popping titles that definitely put style over substance. Colorful artwork abounds, set dramatically against black (and occasionally brilliant white) pages. Thematic borders surround each two-page spread. Featured illustrations are arranged in a central design (a periscopelike "window" in Ocean; a five-pointed "star" in Supernatural), which are invariably distorted by the book's gutter. Additional photographs and drawings are scattered among the snippets of information filling the pages. Of the two titles, Ocean is the more utilitarian. From some early views of the shape of the Earth to the use of a Global Positioning System in modern sunken-treasure hunting, a clear outline of the development of human exploration of the watery depths is revealed. The survey of underwater-exploration devices and the strange but wonderful discoveries to which they have led are fascinating. This book, similar in content to Philip Whitfield's Oceans (Viking, 1991; o.p.), could serve as a complement to Seymour Simon's Oceans (Morrow, 1990). In Supernatural, Powell touches upon mysterious places, ghosts, UFOs and alien abductions, witchcraft, out-of-body experiences, and other puzzling phenomena. While many questions are posed and many different unexplained occurrences are described, detailed reports of investigations and realistic explanations must be found elsewhere. Neither title includes a bibliography or list for further reading.?Ann G. Brouse, Steele Memorial Library, Elmira, NY
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.