A fine introduction to experimental observation for young readers.
Pattison relates the life of French marine biologist Jeannette Power (1794-1871) in this children’s illustrated biography.
Power is famous for inventing aquariums, which enabled her to study “a 4-inch long octopus, the Argonauta argo.” The researcher, who was born Jeanne Villepreux in Juillac, France, journeyed to Sicily in Italy to marry her fiance in 1818. Her fascination with the sea inspired her to study live marine creatures. To keep them alive for any significant length of time, they needed fresh seawater and food; the scientist first tried using glass vases with cork lids and later designed “simple glass cages,” among other things, to study the Argonauta argo, beginning in 1832. These allowed her to observe the octopuses for hours. For more than 10 years, Power observed more than 1,000 octopuses in her aquariums. Through their use, she was able to do an experiment to observe how the octopuses repair their own broken shells, which hadn’t previously been witnessed by humans before. Power effectively opened up a window to the sea so that “others could be captivated by the sea and its creatures.” Pattison’s biography provides engaging information about a relatively little-known figure and her innovations in marine studies, and it does so in a manner that’s likely to appeal to kids. Along the way, the text effectively elucidates the steps of the scientific method, including prediction, observation, analysis of data, and formulation of a conclusion. Willis’ full-color, painterly illustrations are detailed, vividly hued, and clearly enhance the events of the text. Appendices with further information on the “World’s Weirdest Octopus,” the science of oceanography, and other topics add further interest. Overall, young readers will be sure to enjoy this colorful tale of Power’s innovative spirit.
A fine introduction to experimental observation for young readers.Pub Date: June 13, 2023
ISBN: 9781629442327
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Mims House
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
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
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