Upbeat conservationist verse.
With this poetry collection, Silverman and Hsu offer encouragement for those worried about the planet.
Vivid verse brings to life a variety of global efforts toward environmental stewardship and revitalization. Each piece offers a close observation of a regionally specific ecological problem and solution; a brief paragraph of text offers more information. “For the Bees” explores how the people of Oslo, Norway, created a “highway” made up of roof gardens and bee boxes to help honeybees, which face threats due to habitat loss and climate change. Another poem details how an initiative in Chicago resulted in people turning their lights off at night to help migrating birds. The result is a distilled portrayal of a world in crisis as well as an optimistic portrait of how a small handful of people, working together, can respond and avert crises. Though it’s clear that our planet faces grave danger, readers will come away feeling that positive change is within their grasp. In lesser hands, this work could have become heavy-handed, but it does what poetry does best: It captures small, meaningful moments with heart. This purposeful collection offers an entry point for deeper conversations about the human role in preservation and protection of the natural world. Hsu’s realistic yet whimsical full-color illustrations add a human touch and reflect diversity in skin tones throughout.
Upbeat conservationist verse. (how you can help, more to explore, resources for families and educators, children’s books celebrating city wildlife) (Picture book/poetry. 4-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9780358434566
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2024
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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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