An intriguing episode of colliding worlds.
This true story follows a tiny owl whose home becomes the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center.
She is a northern saw-whet owl, a nameless wild animal, so tiny that “it’s doubtful anybody knew she existed.” She sleeps by day and hunts by night, alone and peaceful—until one day the sounds of voices and power tools awaken her. Her tree moves. It shakes. It falls down. It is wrapped, loaded onto a truck, and driven for hours down a noisy highway. When the truck stops, there are new sounds, and when the tree is unwrapped, the owl comes out of her hole, tired and hungry from three days without food. She is found and brought to a wildlife rescue center, where she is nursed back to health. Meanwhile, her tree is decked with lights and put up in New York City. The owl is now famous, and she has been named Rockefeller—but of course she doesn’t know about that. When she is well, she is released into the wild. Jeanette Winter’s signature illustrations center the owl and her natural habitat even as the text straddles the human perspective on the owl’s world in a way that makes each strange to the other. This story poses as many questions as it answers, leaving readers to discuss and wonder at the relation of wilderness to civilization. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An intriguing episode of colliding worlds. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-66590-213-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers.
The team of Costain and Lovšin (Daddies are Awesome, 2016) gives moms their due.
Rhyming verses tell of all the ways moms are amazing: “Mommies are magic. / They kiss away troubles… // …find gold in the sunlight / and rainbows in bubbles.” Moms are joyful—the best playmates. They are also fearless and will protect and soothe if you are scared. Clever moms know just what to do when you’re sad, sporty moms run and leap and climb, while tender moms cuddle. “My mommy’s so special. / I tell her each day… // … just how much I love her / in every way!” Whereas dads were illustrated with playful pups and grown-up dogs in the previous book, moms are shown as cats with their kittens in myriad colors, sizes, and breeds. Lovšin’s cats look as though they are smiling at each other in their fun, though several spreads are distractingly cut in half by the gutter. However delightful the presentation—the verse rolls fairly smoothly, and the cats are pretty cute—the overall effect is akin to a cream puff’s: very sweet and insubstantial.
A $16.99 Mother’s Day card for cat lovers. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-651-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying.
Catering to young scientists, naturalists, and Shark Week fans–to-be, this visually arresting volume presents a good deal of information in easily digested bites.
Like others in the Block Books series, this book feels both compact and massive. When closed, it is 5.5 inches across, 6.5 inches tall, and nearly 2 inches thick, weighty and solid, with stiff cardboard pages that boast creative die cuts and numerous fold-out three- and four-panel tableaux. While it’s possible it’s not the only book with a dorsal fin, it certainly must be among the best. The multiracial cast of aquarium visitors includes a Sikh man with his kids and a man of color who uses a wheelchair; there they discover the dramatic degree of variations among sharks. The book begins with a trip to a shark exhibit, complete with a megalodon jaw. The text points out that there are over 400 known types of sharks alive today, then introduces 18 examples, including huge whale sharks, tiny pocket sharks, and stealthy, well-camouflaged wobbegongs. Reef sharks prowl the warm waters of the surface, while sand tiger sharks explore shipwrecks on the ocean floor. Bioluminescent catsharks reside at the bottom of an inky black flap that folds down, signifying the deepest ocean depths, where no sunlight penetrates. Great whites get star treatment with four consecutive two-page spreads; their teeth and appetite impress but don’t horrify. The book does a wonderful job of highlighting the interconnectedness of species and the importance of environmental stewardship.
Captivating—and not a bit terrifying. (Board book. 3-5)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4119-7
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Abrams Appleseed
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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