Browsers will come away with plenty of rousing facts to share plus a better sense of the relative sizes of many animals.
A menagerie of wild animals from diverse locales and habitats, drawn to scale within each spread.
Gadding about seemingly arbitrarily from the Galápagos Islands to the Black Forest, ocean deeps to coral reefs, this lap-sized worldwide tour gathers around 250 creatures (or, rarely, plants) from anopheles mosquito to blue whale. They appear, about a dozen or so per spread, with human figures, hands, or footprints visible in each scene for comparison. Prabhat’s painted portraits, stylized but recognizable, share space in their natural settings with pithy comments from Marx—mostly on point, though one claim that “without flies, our planet would be covered in rotting waste!” is more histrionic than strictly accurate, and another that phytoplankton eat krill is exactly backward (possibly due to a typo). Still, all the animals are identified, and the author’s many references to predation, poisons, and poop (“jackrabbits,” readers learn, “are coprophagic”), not to mention memorable details like the “hardened buttocks” of wombats, make it really hard to skip the commentary…even the occasional passages semilegibly printed black on purple. There’s no index, but a foldout poster (not seen) offers a complete group shot, including one of the racially diverse cast of young naturalists who put in appearances throughout.
Browsers will come away with plenty of rousing facts to share plus a better sense of the relative sizes of many animals. (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-944530-34-1
Page Count: 64
Publisher: 360 Degrees
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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