Kids will make tracks to this one—and likely step up for repeat visits.
Who goes there?
Readers must guess which creatures left their distinctive tracks behind in this fact-filled book. On the verso page of each spread, the question reads, “Whose footprint is that?” and a clue to the maker of the print appears with a snippet of its anatomy—e.g., snout, ears, tail, feather, even, in one case, a section of a body. The recto page displays the print or prints with a sentence or two explaining how the tracks were produced. A page turn yields another spread and the answer: a portrait of the mystery animal and some interesting facts about its feet. A very ancient track maker is included, too. A tantalizing puzzle challenges kids at the end: “Can an animal change its footprints?” Adult readers would do well to let a few moments elapse while children ponder responses before they turn the page and reveal the answer—and another brainteaser. This charmer will hold young children’s interest and will succeed one-on-one or as a group read-aloud. It will help develop vocabulary as youngsters learn new words including “wallaroo” and “slithering.” The gouache illustrations are appealing. Tracks are large enough to be seen well (and, possibly, traced with little fingers), and their makers are portrayed along with glimpses into their habitats, with furry, feathered, and scaly charms charmingly intact.
Kids will make tracks to this one—and likely step up for repeat visits. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Oct. 22, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-58089-834-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A boon for beaver storytimes or young naturalists living near beaver streams.
Readers learn about a keystone species and the habitat they create.
In a “House That Jack Built” style (though minus the cumulative repetition), Sonenshine introduces children to beavers. Beginning with a beaver who’s just gnawed down a willow near their lodge, the author moves on to the dam that blocks the stream and protects their domed home and then to the yearlings that are working to repair it with sticks and mud. Muskrats and a musk turtle take advantage of the safety of the beavers’ lodge, while Coyote tries (and fails) to breach it. Then the book turns to other animals that enjoy the benefits of the pond the beavers have created: goose, ducklings, heron, moose. While the beavers aren’t in all these illustrations, evidence of them is. And then suddenly a flood takes out both the dam and the beavers’ lodge. So, the beavers move upstream to find a new spot to dam and build again, coming full circle back to the beginning of the book. Hunter’s ink-and–colored pencil illustrations have a scratchy style that is well suited to the beavers’ pelts, their watery surroundings, and the other animals that share their habitat. Careful observers will be well rewarded by the tiny details. Beavers are mostly nocturnal, which isn’t always faithfully depicted by Hunter. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A boon for beaver storytimes or young naturalists living near beaver streams. (beaver facts, glossary, further resources) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1868-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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