An irresistible replacement for the collaborators’ The Chimpanzee Family Book (1989), now out of print.
An album of photographs of young chimpanzees from the families the famed naturalist has studied over 60 years in the now-protected area of Tanzania called Gombe National Park.
Goodall herself narrates this invitation to young readers to spend a day observing chimpanzee children. Her love for the area comes through in her presentation. She explains that her imagined day includes photos taken over many years and features several different chimp families. She makes a point of showing similarities between their behavior and our own—mothers carrying, feeding and nurturing their babies, children exploring and playing. One spread shows young Tanzanian children and chimps in similar poses—sucking a finger, laughing, eating. Along the way, the naturalist includes facts about chimp daily life and introduces other animals in the park, including baboons and red colobus monkeys. Neugebauer’s photographs (taken over many years of visits) are striking and beautifully reproduced. Many are close-ups, showing recognizable individuals. Some pictures may surprise: One chimp shakes a dry gourd like a rattle; another holds hands with a baboon. Others entertain. One spread shows Goodall herself, perhaps thinking about her own mother or perhaps just watching a chimp mother cuddling her baby. Both have the same warm smile.
An irresistible replacement for the collaborators’ The Chimpanzee Family Book (1989), now out of print. (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-988-8240-83-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: minedition
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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