Attractively presented information that could make dining on bugs more palatable.
Yum, some delicious grub…yes, literally.
After defining bugs as “the tiny creatures that are also known as arthropods,” French explains their important roles in the ecosystem, discusses the most commonly eaten bugs (and how they are farmed), and includes a recipe for cricket brownies (she suggests readers try a taste test against a boxed mix). The author makes a solid case for chowing down on creepy-crawlies. She compares the efficiency of farming bugs vs. larger livestock, noting that cows and pigs require more food and space relative to the meat they yield; these larger animals also produce far more greenhouse gases. While many readers may be grossed out at the book’s premise, a map indicates countries where they are relished, and the author notes that farming insects might be a good option for astronauts colonizing other planets. Bugs can even be added discreetly to some recipes. French covers their nutritional value and explores sustainability issues in accessible detail. Experts might contest a graph that shows the projected world population continuing to rise past the year 2110; the United Nations anticipates that growth will peak in the 2080s. And nowhere in the book does French cite an average human’s basic required protein-consumption level—a need that could also be met by a vegetarian diet (or ovo/pescatarian variations). Still, the bright, colorful, well-designed graphics effectively convey complex information, and the text is clear and reader-friendly.
Attractively presented information that could make dining on bugs more palatable. (Nonfiction. 5-9)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9781464220937
Page Count: 48
Publisher: duopress/Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2025
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
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An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort.
A look at the unique ways that 11 globe-spanning animal species construct their homes.
Each creature garners two double-page spreads, which Cherrix enlivens with compelling and at-times jaw-dropping facts. The trapdoor spider constructs a hidden burrow door from spider silk. Sticky threads, fanning from the entrance, vibrate “like a silent doorbell” when walked upon by unwitting insect prey. Prairie dogs expertly dig communal burrows with designated chambers for “sleeping, eating, and pooping.” The largest recorded “town” occupied “25,000 miles and housed as many as 400 million prairie dogs!” Female ants are “industrious insects” who can remove more than a ton of dirt from their colony in a year. Cathedral termites use dirt and saliva to construct solar-cooled towers 30 feet high. Sasaki’s lively pictures borrow stylistically from the animal compendiums of mid-20th-century children’s lit; endpapers and display type elegantly suggest the blues of cyanotypes and architectural blueprints. Jarringly, the lead spread cheerfully extols the prowess of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, “the world’s largest living structure,” while ignoring its accelerating, human-abetted destruction. Calamitously, the honeybee hive is incorrectly depicted as a paper-wasps’ nest, and the text falsely states that chewed beeswax “hardens into glue to shape the hive.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5625-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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