A sound examination of a surprisingly loud undersea world.
Listen to an underwater cacophony.
With this playful account of the sounds revealed by recent hydrophone research, the author of When a Tree Falls (2025) leaves the forest to visit the ocean, inviting younger audiences to eavesdrop on fish. Pendreigh’s rhyming couplets never falter; from time to time, she repeats the refrain “It’s NOISY down below.” Starting with whale and dolphin sounds, she quickly dives into less familiar territory, describing the noises made by a remarkable variety of marine life, including shellfish. She speculates on what they might be saying (“MY LUNCH!” “SHARK?”) and explains that underwater, “sound travels faster, and farther…, / quicker than smell and deeper than light.” She reveals how these creatures create sound and uses frequent onomatopoeia (“Pearlfish THRUM. / Angelfish CHIRP”). Melrose’s digital illustrations include recognizable depictions of the fish, from clownfish to herring, as well as their sounds, lettered neatly nearby. Careful observers will notice a snapping shrimp crackling and popping on nearly every spread. This creature provides the climax; its astonishingly loud sound is accompanied by “blast balls that STUN / ZAP-FLASH-BUBBLES. Hot as the SUN!” The repetition of sound words makes this a pleasure to use with fledgling readers. The spreads will show well to a small group, and the backmatter adds useful information on hydrophone research, how fish hear, and snapping shrimp and the other animals mentioned.
A sound examination of a surprisingly loud undersea world. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 3, 2025
ISBN: 9781464218965
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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
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