by Bill Wise ; illustrated by Rebecca Evans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2019
Absolutely fascinating
Even speedy, strong, flexible, and athletic kids are sure to walk away from this humbled by the talent in the animal kingdom.
Indeed, our animal friends can outsqueeze, outstare, outhide, and outjump us all. Think you’d beat a chameleon at hide-and-seek? Think again. They have camouflage on their side, and they also have eyes that can swivel independently. Giraffes would win at basketball, anacondas at wrestling, kangaroos in the long jump, and elephants in weight lifting. An octopus’s flexibility would give it the advantage playing Twister, and who would even dream of playing tag with a porcupine? Backmatter includes a paragraph of further factual information about each featured animal as well as some easter eggs to spy in the illustrations. A final spread offers some activities to challenge kids in each of the STEM areas; in engineering, children might invent something that would give them the advantage. Teachers will love the idea of having students create new pages for the book with their own animal-human match-ups. Evans’ watercolor illustrations are appropriately humorous, and pointedly, none of the kid contestants are poor sports; all appear to be trying their best and having fun. The five children are racially diverse; one wears glasses; all are slim. Pair with Etta Kaner and David Anderson’s And the Winner Is (2013) for further humbling truths.
Absolutely fascinating . (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58469-651-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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by Bill Wise ; illustrated by Davilyn Lynch
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by Andrew Knapp ; illustrated by Andrew Knapp ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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by Andrew Knapp ; photographed by Andrew Knapp
by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Vanessa Morales
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