A delightful look at a unique aquatic environment that will nourish children’s natural sense of wonder.
What can you find in a tide pool?
The author of the Sibert Medal–winning picture book Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera (2020) introduces young readers to the delights and wonders of a Pacific coastal tide pool. Intriguingly, the story begins before the frontmatter—introductory text and illustrations portraying a tidal cycle lead to, and then seamlessly incorporate, the book’s title page. Fleming names some of the creatures who wait in the tide pool for the ocean waves to return: “clusters of barnacles,” “beds of mussels,” “patches of sponge,” and sundry other invertebrates as well as fish. Descriptive verbs abound: a kelp crab “idles”; a rock crab “scoots.” At high tide, “everything is busy. / All brim with life,” until the water recedes and quiet returns. Hevron’s harmonious acrylic paint–and-pencil illustrations perfectly pair with Fleming’s gentle, lyrical text. The marine creatures are clearly depicted, stylized but recognizable. The octopus and sea cucumber hiding under rocks at low tide are out and about in the water during high tide. The backmatter includes an illustrated guide to the species shown throughout the artwork—offering the opportunity for a seek-and-find—and an annotated diagram showing their habitats. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A delightful look at a unique aquatic environment that will nourish children’s natural sense of wonder. (resources) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4915-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle.
Through many types of weather and the different seasons, water tells readers about its many forms.
“Sometimes I’m the rain cloud / and sometimes I’m the rain.” Water can make rainbows and can appear to be different colors. Water is a waterfall, a wave, an ocean swell, a frozen pond, the snow on your nose, a cloud, frost, a comet, a part of you. Throughout, Paterson’s rhyming verses evoke images of their own: “Soon the summer sun is back / and warms me with its rays. / I rise in rumbling thunderheads / like castles in the haze,” though at times word order seems to have been chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (“In fall I sink into a fog / and blanket chilly fields, / with pumpkins touched by morning frost / the harvest season yields”). Backmatter includes a diagram of the water cycle that introduces and describes each step with solid vocabulary, including “Collection” as a step in the process; “The Science Behind the Poetry,” which unpacks some of the poetic language and phrases; some water activities and explorations; conservation tips; and a list of other books from the publisher about water. Paterson’s full- and double-page–spread illustrations are just as magical as his verse, showing water in its many forms from afar and close up. Few people appear on his pages, but the vast majority of those are people of color.
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-615-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
