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NO MORE PLASTIC

Name: NO MORE PLASTIC
Author: Alma Fullerton
ISBN: 978-1-77278-113-7

by Alma Fullerton ; illustrated by Alma Fullerton ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021

A gentle, effective presentation of an environmental disaster.

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Angered by the death of a whale, beached on the ocean shore she loves, Isley finds a constructive response.

When Isley learns that the dead right whale had starved from filling its stomach with plastic trash instead of whale food, she is devastated. Her first reaction is believably childlike—a tantrum. She stomps, she kicks, she screams: “NO MORE PLASTIC.” But she channels her distress into action, refusing plastic in all its forms and encouraging her neighbors to do the same. Although they forget about the whale eventually, returning to old habits, Isley continues to pick up plastic trash on the beach. With the mountain she’s collected, she builds a full-sized whale sculpture, an unavoidable reminder that changes behaviors in her community. Like Isley with her construction, author/illustrator Fullerton has created her illustrations from “repurposed plastic, sand, and moss.” Among the best of the recent books about ocean plastic thanks to its positive approach and practical suggestions included at the end, this title would work well as a group read-aloud. The narrative is full of sounds: lapping wave sounds begin and end the story, but there are also sea gulls’ squawks, whales’ songs, and a quiet nighthawk’s call. The target audience will be slightly younger than that for Susan Hood’s The Last Straw (2021), which has more substantive backmatter. The setting is Prince Edward Island; the protagonist presents White.

A gentle, effective presentation of an environmental disaster. (author’s note) (Picture book. 5-8)

Pub Date: May 18, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-77278-113-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Pajama Press

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
FLIPPING FORWARD TWISTING BACKWARD
by Alma Fullerton ; illustrated by Alma Fullerton

- BOOK REVIEW
HAND OVER HAND
by Alma Fullerton ; illustrated by Renné Benoit

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN THE RAIN COMES
by Alma Fullerton ; illustrated by Kim LaFave

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THE TOAD

From the Disgusting Critters series

by Elise Gravel ; illustrated by Elise Gravel ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2016

A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor

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Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.

The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”

A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: July 5, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Tundra Books

Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS IS MY BRAIN!
by Elise Gravel ; illustrated by Elise Gravel

- BOOK REVIEW
EVERYBODY!
by Elise Gravel ; illustrated by Elise Gravel

- BOOK REVIEW
KILLER UNDERWEAR INVASION!
by Elise Gravel ; illustrated by Elise Gravel

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KNIGHT OWL AND EARLY BIRD

From the Knight Owl series , Vol. 2

by Christopher Denise ; illustrated by Christopher Denise ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2024

An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts.

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Can knightly deeds bring together a feathered odd couple who are on opposite daily schedules?

Having won over a dragon (and millions of fans) in the Caldecott Honor–winning Knight Owl (2022), the fierce yet impossibly cute nocturnal, armor-clad owlet faces a new challenge—sleep deprivation—in the wake of taking on Early Bird, a trainee who rises with the sun and chatters interminably: “I made pancakes! Do you like pancakes? I love pancakes! Where’s the syrup?” It’s enough to test the patience of even the knightliest of owls, and eventually Knight Owl explodes in anger. But although Early Bird is even smaller than her mentor, she turns out to be just as determined to achieve knighthood. After he tells her to leave, she acquits herself so nobly in a climactic encounter with a pack of wolves that she earns a place at the castle. Denise proves a dab hand at depicting genuinely slinky, scary wolves as well as slipping cheerfully anachronistic newspapers and other sight gags into his realistically wrought medieval settings to underscore the tale’s tongue-in-cheek tone. Better yet, a final view of the doughty duo sitting down together to a lavish pancake breakfast/dinner at dusk ends the episode in a sweet rush of syrup and bonhomie.

An immersive, charming read and convincing proof again that even small bodies can house stout hearts. (Picture book. 5-8)