A scientific success story, with a cogent reminder that work remains to be done.
A lyrical tribute to the scientists who solved an ecological mystery and spurred efforts to save many species from extinction.
In a spare narrative made up of free verse and reading like a detective story, Stremer describes the way declining populations of brown pelicans led concerned researchers to discover how the common pesticide DDT passed up food chains and weakened eggshells, to devastating effect. Only after the rising waves of public protest that ensued after one scientist “wrote a book / about springs / when songbirds would no longer sing” were officials forced to legislate efforts to ban the substance and protect vanishing species. It still took nearly 37 years for the pelicans to recover their numbers, Stremer continues—and even now they and many other threatened species are still in dire need of “people just like you” to “stand up, / speak out, / and inspire change.” Readers will be further engaged in the cause by Wright’s flowing scenes of ungainly pelicans diving and nesting, light- and dark-skinned scientists in lab coats and equally diverse marchers waving banners, and a wildlife crossing built over a busy roadway providing safe passage. For those in need of a little more solid information, she identifies some significant environmental laws (along with that anonymous “scientist” writer, who is, of course, Rachel Carson) in the backmatter, which includes more facts about pelicans, the specific effects of DDT, and the environmental movement’s rise.
A scientific success story, with a cogent reminder that work remains to be done. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2025
ISBN: 9780823457038
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 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
BOOK REVIEW
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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