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
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
Lively fun with animal friends.
Has Plum’s pep deserted him?
Several animals from the Athensville Zoo are on their way to visit an elementary school. Overconfident Itch the ningbing (an Australian marsupial), unaware that zookeeper Lizzie will be doing all the talking, looks forward to “lecturing eager young minds.” Plum, the usually chipper peacock, on the other hand, is anxious—maybe the schoolchildren won’t like him or he’ll get lost. So when they arrive at the school to find the students have been sent home due to a blizzard, Plum is relieved. The animals are left in a school gym for the night until three self-important class mice free them. Itch heads for the library to meet the learned turtle, but Plum reluctantly explores with his friends. When his anxiety peaks, they reassure him, and when the mice reject Meg, another peacock, as “borrrring” and uncool, they buoy her as well before everyone comes together to save Itch, who finds himself outside and stranded in a snowdrift. Unlike Leave It to Plum (2022), this is not a mystery, and the relationship focus shifts from Lizzie to the rodents, but the pace is brisk, and sequel seekers will be pleased to revisit familiar characters (if dismayed that Itch’s longing for knowledge leads to his downfall). In Phelan’s engaging grayscale pen-and-wash illustrations, Lizzie has short curly hair; text and art cue her as Latine.
Lively fun with animal friends. (how to draw Plum) (Chapter book. 7-10)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-307920-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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