Thomas F. Yezerski

I'm a lifelong resident of New Jersey who avoids that part of the state as if my life depended on it. Growing up not far from the hustle and bustle of the Meadowlands, I longed for the day when I would move to an area that is less congested and more abundant in nature. It is very difficult to imagine the place as a beautiful, nature filled wetland.

Fact filled overview of the history, development and natural habitat that is the Meadowlands. The author discusses the human development, but also spends a great deal of time highlighting the animals and natural progress as well. Discusses conservation in a factual way, emphasizing the visible benefits of changed behaviors and practices.

Large illustrations on each page show the many views of the area. Small captioned images frame the page adding depth to the page's content. These are wonderful for a one-on-one storytime where the readers can dawdle on each page, discussing what they mean. They could also help make this book a useful starting point for New Jersey research projects. For expample: a page shows an illustration of a "chocolate drink" that looks very much like Yoo Hoo, which turns out was a NJ based business. Seemingly random pictures hint at a greater story.

Appendix includes author's note, selected bibliography (print and web).… (more)

This book has an amazing and true nonfiction story to really impress children and adults alike. In New Jersey, there are 20,000 acres of meadowlands that have been built over and polluted for the last four hundred years. This book is the story of what happened and the information about the reclamation of some of this area. Thomas F. Yezerski wrote and illustrated this beautiful book with dense informational text and pictures, yet it is a readable story. The borders themselves provide some education as pictures of artifacts, birds, animals, and people are illustrated and named along the page edges. A class is shown on a field trip to this area to demonstrate how children might be involved in such a project. At the very end, websites and books are recommended for further study. The author's note states the history of the Meadowlands begins around 12,000 B.C. E. when the Wisconsin Glacier retreated and formed Glacial Lake Hackensack, and more history is provided for the reader.

Amazing facts are included in this book such as that at one point mountains of garbage dumps and other problems left only 7,000 acres of wetlands. Because the tide still rises north from the Atlantic ocean, and the Hackensack River flows south, the ecosystem had a chance to recover. The book explains how nature helped heal itself, along with the efforts of humans.… (more)