An engaging look at the interconnected, interdependent nature of an ecosystem revolves around ... chocolate? Yes! Cocoa trees in the rain forests of Central and South America are a terrific example of how one life form depends on so many elements, and so many other creatures, to survive and thrive. You can't have chocolate without cocoa beans, which need cocoa pods, which form from cocoa flowers. The leaves on those cocoa trees provide food for the flowers, and those leaves need maggots. That's right. And the stems of those leaves need lizards, which eat damaging insects (no, not the maggots). Where do the monkeys come in? If it weren't for monkeys, new cocoa trees wouldn't grow, because the only way cocoa seeds spread is by animals pulling the pods down and ripping them open to eat the insides, leaving the seeds behind. Each page spread expands on a single element of this process that is part of the cumulative life force of the ecosystem that gives us chocolate. (Ages 5-9)

Everyone loves chocolate, right? But how many people actually know where chocolate comes from? How it?s made? Or that monkeys do their part to help this delicious sweet exist? This delectable dessert comes from cocoa beans, which grow on cocoa trees in tropical rain forests. But those trees couldn?t survive without the help of a menagerie of rain forest critters: a pollen-sucking midge, an aphid-munching anole lizard, brain-eating coffin fly maggots?they all pitch in to help the cocoa tree survive. A secondary layer of text delves deeper into statements such as "Cocoa flowers can?t bloom without cocoa leaves . . . and maggots," explaining the interdependence of the plants and animals in the tropical rain forests. Two wise-cracking bookworms appear on every page, adding humor and further commentary, making this book accessible to readers of different ages and reading levels. Back matter includes information about cocoa farming and rain forest preservation, as well as an author?s note.