This leads the way among lovely books about elephants for young children.
Leading her herd, a majestic elephant teaches, guides, and inspires.
An elephant group or family is a matriarchal society, usually led by the eldest female among them. The matriarch’s most important jobs are to lead the group to food and water, to teach new mothers how to care for their young, and to protect her family from enemies and threats. She comforts and helps care for orphaned calves and keeps a watchful eye over the youngsters as they grow. Under the matriarch’s expert tutelage, group members learn all the skills they need so a new “queen” will be able to assume leadership after her death. This fascinating, fact-filled look at an awesome elephant matriarch shepherding her family will fill readers with wonder and, not so coincidentally, will likely inspire human girls to feel empowered about their own leadership abilities. The text is presented twofold: as a sweet, simple story on double-page spreads and, in a smaller font throughout, as rich factual information. The illustrations, near-photographic in their realism, are exceptional. With gentle, muted background colors to enhance the elephants’ gray hides, the artwork provides true, endearing depictions of these marvelous animals in their habitat (Africa, judging by their ears). Illustrations presenting young elephants are delightful; one heart-rending scene depicts a tearful elder beside a deceased matriarch.
This leads the way among lovely books about elephants for young children. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 26, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64170-232-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Familius
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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