An important resource for building appreciation and awareness of a vulnerable animal species.
The mighty silverback gorilla is king, but he’s also a gentle giant.
In straightforward text, the opening spreads explain that a dominant male in a troop of gorillas “leads his family.” He “guides them through thick forests and steep mountains” in central Africa to suitable feeding spots. It is up to him to protect them as they rest, groom, socialize, and play in the middle of the day. Sometimes, “if a member of his troop misbehaves, he will display his dominance,” but mostly he is gentle, dignified, and nurturing, especially when he plays with the infant gorillas. Although an adult male mountain gorilla can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh more than 400 pounds, the dominant silverback is actually a “shy” creature who is “content to lounge and eat most of the day.” With one to three pithy sentences of main text on each double-page spread and longer sidebar text providing additional fascinating facts, this inspiring story gives insight into these imposing yet graceful apes as well as the family dynamics of gorillas, the environment in which they live, and how their habits closely parallel those of human families. Shimokawara’s beautifully detailed watercolor illustrations portray these intelligent creatures with great realism and empathy.
An important resource for building appreciation and awareness of a vulnerable animal species. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: March 29, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64170-648-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Familius
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
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
Smoother rides are out there.
Mommy and Bonnie—two anthropomorphic rodents—go for a joyride and notice a variety of conveyances around their busy town.
The pair encounter 22 types of vocational vehicles as they pass various sites, including a fire engine leaving a firehouse, a school bus approaching a school, and a tractor trailer delivering goods to a supermarket. Narrated in rhyming quatrains, the book describes the jobs that each wheeled machine does. The text uses simple vocabulary and sentences, with sight words aplenty. Some of the rhymes don't scan as well as others, and the description of the mail truck’s role ("A mail truck brings / letters and cards / to mailboxes / in people's yards) ignores millions of readers living in yardless dwellings. The colorful digitally illustrated spreads are crowded with animal characters of every type hustling and bustling about. Although the art is busy, observant viewers may find humor in details such as a fragile item falling out of a moving truck, a line of ducks holding up traffic, and a squirrel’s spilled ice cream. For younger children enthralled by vehicles, Sally Sutton’s Roadwork (2011) and Elizabeth Verdick’s Small Walt series provide superior text and art and kinder humor. Children who have little interest in cars, trucks, and construction equipment may find this offering a yawner. Despite being advertised as a beginner book, neither text nor art recommend this as an engaging choice for children starting to read independently. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Smoother rides are out there. (Picture book. 3-5)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37725-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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