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SEA LIONS IN THE PARKING LOT

Name: SEA LIONS IN THE PARKING LOT
Author: Lenora Todaro
ISBN: 978-1-66265-049-9

ANIMALS ON THE MOVE IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC

by Lenora Todaro ; illustrated by Annika Siems ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 2021

Curiously miscellaneous but likely to appeal to animal lovers.

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When Covid-19 kept humans home, animal behaviors changed.

The author of the “Sidewalk Naturalist” column for the digital magazine Catapult offers a dozen examples of changes observed in animal behavior around the world in 2020. Kangaroos ventured onto city streets in Australia; sika deer clattered down subway steps in Japan; sea lions sunned themselves at a resort in Argentina; lions napped on roads where safari jeeps usually take tourists. Urban animals like coyotes and wild boars became bolder; pandas in zoos mated and gave birth. Clean waters allowed Venetians to see undersea creatures. Far more spring peepers than usual survived road crossings in the eastern United States; more flamingos nested in Indian wetlands; and more hatchling turtles made their way from beaches to the ocean. In one case, Todaro highlights changed human behavior: To avoid infecting mountain gorillas, rangers used face masks and hand sanitizers. Each example receives two spreads, with a short, illustrated story followed by an appealing, gently humorous double-page illustration. These interesting, explanatory stories always include a word for the species as a group. They’re appropriate for reading aloud to a young audience, though the places and even the species may require some adult introduction. There’s extensive backmatter for older readers, including the idea of the “anthropause,” a note on habitats, and suggestions for actions to help create more safe spaces for wildlife.

Curiously miscellaneous but likely to appeal to animal lovers. (further resources) (Informational picture book. 5-9)

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-66265-049-9

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Maria Russo/Minedition

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: July 11, 2023

ISBN: 9781728271170

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore

Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

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WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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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)