Nonfiction Monday

 

A River of Dust: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa and the Amazon by Jilanne Hoffmann with illustrations by Eugenia Mello

 

"I am dust, the dust of North Africa. Not just any dust though. For I connect continents."

Hoffmann tells readers a wonderous story of how the dust of the Sahel makes its vital, life-giving journey from the plains of Africa to the rainforests of South America. The Sahel is a transitional zone between the Sahara Desert on the north and the savannahs to the south. It stretches unbroken from the Atlantic coast of Mauritania to the Red Sea coast of Sudan.

 Each year, winter winds lift 182 million tons of dust high into the atmosphere to begin a 6,000-mile journey. Much of that dust, about 85%, settles into the ocean to nurture sea life. But approximately 28 tons fall to earth in the Amazon basin. This dust is rich in phosphorus, a vital nutrient for plant growth. The heavy rainfall of the Amazon washes this mineral from the soil creating a deficit of up to 90% in some places. Without the annual renewal of this essential component the ecosystem could fail.

 Hoffman conveys this important information in a beautiful poetic voice told in the dust’s point of view that reads like the epic tale it is. Then she concludes the book with a section entitled Questions for Curious Minds. Here she delves deeper into a variety of topics:

How did dust help scientists solve the mystery of the Amazon’s lush rainforest?

How does dust from the Sahel affect Atlantic Ocean ecosystems?

How does NASA measure the river of dust high in the atmosphere?

How do scientists seek to understand our complex global ecosystems?

How did South America and Africa drift apart?

An Author’s Note shares Hoffman’s own story of how she became fascinated by this subject and came to create the book.

Mello’s lovely artwork deftly weaves word and image together with motion and color.

Hoffman demonstrates how the smallest thing—a speck of dust—can make a life-changing difference. That truth reminds us of our own important place in maintaining the health of the world around us.  

RIVER OF DUST will be a valuable addition to the curriculum on a variety of STEM subjects—geography, geology, ecology, environmental science, global warming, NASA, atmospheric research, plate tectonics, and more.

Highly recommended for home and school libraries.