Bee-guiling and informative.
Honeybees get most of the attention but make up only a small fraction of the number of bee species on our planet; a salute to the rest is in order.
Going all in on reader appeal, Vermond profiles a representative sampling of carpenter bees, sweat bees, diggers, and other “gentle little fuzz-buckets” classed as “wild solitary bees,” which never swarm, rarely sting, and actually constitute 90% of all the bees on Earth. As she writes, they are the main pollinators for many common foodstuffs from blueberries to potatoes and tomatoes. Some collect flower oils rather than pollen, produce a cellophane-like protective coating for their nests, and exhibit other unexpected behaviors; vulture bees even eat carrion and regurgitate it later to feed their offspring. “What’s the only real difference between this stuff and the honey of a honeybee? It’s made of rotten flesh, not plants,” writes Vermond. Steube’s close-up, detailed portraits of a representative dozen or so types of wild bees hovering over a variety of flowers offer a good sense of the industrious clan’s broad range of both common and distinctive features. Bee predators and parasites, like the “adorable” bee flies that bomb nests with their own eggs, also earn nods, and closing projects and practices invite concerned young activists to “BEE part of the solution" to declining insect populations.
Bee-guiling and informative. (glossary, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781771476171
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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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