The Unsolved Mystery of the Loch Ness Monster (First Facts: Unexplained Mysteries) - Softcover

Terri Dougherty has written more than 90 books for children, including 10 weather-related titles. She wrote for newspapers before exploring other writing styles and lives in Appleton, Wisconsin, with her family.

Gr 1-3-Readers may be confused after browsing through these introductions to mysterious creatures and phenomena. Short chapters offer definitions of each one and its role in history and legends, with unfamiliar words highlighted and defined in sidebars. The large photographs and illustrations are fittingly creepy, scary, and/or appealing. The tone is a bit at odds with itself, however. Each book includes "True or False" sections that lay out rational explanations for the phenomena or strange beings, but then follow them with ambiguous and/or misleading statements. For example, Loch Ness Monster ends with this sentence: "Until the mystery is solved, what swims in Loch Ness will remain unknown." Rather than encourage kids to think for themselves, this set might leave them mystified. α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.