A matter-of-fact introduction to typical brains.
An overview of the brain and nervous system.
Two narrators—one brown-skinned, one pale—in lab coats give a “tour” of the brain’s structure, particularly its four lobes: occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal. In speech-balloon dialogue, they begin by exploring the interaction between the brain and spinal cord, likening the spinal cord to “a busy highway” that transmits sensory information to the brain, which in turn directs the body to dance to music or to “move your brother’s arm away when he touches you…again!” Kid-friendly examples abound as they trace the brain’s various parts, and the bright, geometric uncredited illustrations cheerfully—if stiffly—depict racially diverse kids engaging in fun activities courtesy of their brains. The cerebellum helps with shoe-tying and bike riding. The occipital lobe sees colors and movement “like movies or a bike zooming by”; the temporal lobe learns new facts and remembers existing information, like “the name of your best friend’s dog.” The parietal lobe handles sensory information; the frontal lobe controls movement and decisions: “Should you clean up your toys or continue playing video games?” The limbic system helps readers figure out “which feelings [they’d] rather have” about those decisions. The tour ends rather abruptly, with the narrators encouraging readers to “LOBE” their “big, beautiful” brains. Disappointingly, neurodivergence and disability go unmentioned, which may leave neurodivergent readers wondering where their brains fit in.
A matter-of-fact introduction to typical brains. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4338-3046-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
Enticing and eco-friendly.
Why and how to make a rain garden.
Having watched through their classroom window as a “rooftop-rushing, gutter-gushing” downpour sloppily flooded their streets and playground, several racially diverse young children follow their tan-skinned teacher outside to lay out a shallow drainage ditch beneath their school’s downspout, which leads to a patch of ground, where they plant flowers (“native ones with tough, thick roots,” Schaub specifies) to absorb the “mucky runoff” and, in time, draw butterflies and other wildlife. The author follows up her lilting rhyme with more detailed explanations of a rain garden’s function and construction, including a chart to help determine how deep to make the rain garden and a properly cautionary note about locating a site’s buried utility lines before starting to dig; she concludes with a set of leads to online information sources. Gómez goes more for visual appeal than realism. In her scenes, a group of smiling, round-headed, very small children in rain gear industriously lay large stones along a winding border with little apparent effort; nevertheless, her images of the little ones planting generic flowers that are tall and lush just a page turn later do make the outdoorsy project look like fun.
Enticing and eco-friendly. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781324052357
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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