Wade past the subpar poetry to find some good science.
Facts about estuaries are accompanied by pages that often include rhymes and always include watercolor illustrations.
“You’ll find me right here, where river meets ocean / shining and muddy and always in motion. / Grass, mud, and water might be all that you see, / but don’t be fooled—there is much more to me!” Similar clumsy verses abound, complemented by prose paragraphs that explain and expand on the verse. Although many of the watercolors are colorful and well-executed, it is sometimes hard to read the text printed over the art—especially tiny names of flora and fauna. Some fascinating information is communicated through fairly sophisticated prose, as in the passage about how halophytes (salt-loving plants) have adapted to brackish water: “While pickleweed stores excess salt in compartments in its leaves, smooth cordgrass ‘spits out’ extra salt through special pores. Look closely at blades of smooth cordgrass, and you can see salt crystals.” This is followed by another, seemingly obligatory, pair of bad couplets—an unfortunate pattern in the book. In a similar vein, the glossary contains words already well-explained in the text, such as “plankton,” but fails to define the unexplained word “spawn.” The importance of preserving all players in the estuary ecosystem does come out clearly, and there are interesting tidbits of word derivation, as well as a lively section about how various animals avoid/escape predators.
Wade past the subpar poetry to find some good science. (list of estuarine animals and plants, author’s note) (Informational picture book. 7-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-88448-433-2
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2015
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face.
Four misunderstood villains endeavor to turn over a new leaf…or a new rap sheet in Blabey's frenzied romp.
As readers open the first page of this early chapter book, Mr. Wolf is right there to greet them, bemoaning his reputation. "Just because I've got BIG POINTY TEETH and RAZOR-SHARP CLAWS and I occasionally like to dress up like an OLD LADY, that doesn't mean… / … I'm a BAD GUY." To prove this very fact, Mr. Wolf enlists three equally slandered friends into the Good Guys Club: Mr. Snake (aka the Chicken Swallower), Mr. Piranha (aka the Butt Biter), and Mr. Shark (aka Jaws). After some convincing from Mr. Wolf, the foursome sets off determined to un-smirch their names (and reluctantly curbing their appetites). Although these predators find that not everyone is ready to be at the receiving end of their helpful efforts, they use all their Bad Guy know-how to manage a few hilarious good deeds. Blabey has hit the proverbial nail on the head, kissed it full on the mouth, and handed it a stick of Acme dynamite. With illustrations that startle in their manic comedy and deadpan direct address and with a narrative that follows four endearingly sardonic characters trying to push past (sometimes successfully) their fear-causing natures, this book instantly joins the classic ranks of Captain Underpants and The Stinky Cheese Man.
We challenge anyone to read this and keep a straight face. (Fiction. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-91240-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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