Well-researched text and winning visuals anchor a fascinating look at life spans.
A detailed examination of the elastic life spans of animals on Earth.
The amount of time that animals have on our planet is interesting but not as interesting as what they do with that time. That’s the key takeaway from an exhaustive, but never exhausting, book about how some animals have but a blink of a life span on Earth (one species of adult mayflies only lives five minutes) while others seem to live forever (the immortal jellyfish appears to regenerate to its birth state in a never-ending cycle). To “discover what these amazing animals make of their time on earth,” Murray looks beyond animals’ lives and deaths to explain how they maximize that time to keep their species going. Some animals, of course, are more fascinating than others, such as the monarch butterfly, whose life span is between two weeks and eight months but in that time makes a continental journey of up to 2,800 miles, exquisitely illustrated and lucidly explained over four pages. While it’s curious that humans are not on the list of 27 species covered, there’s still an abundance of mind-blowing facts, particularly about the longevity of, say, the Greenland shark (400-year life span) or the glass sponge (11,000 years!).
Well-researched text and winning visuals anchor a fascinating look at life spans. (labeled illustration of all the animals covered) (Nonfiction. 6-9)Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-2975-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Big Picture Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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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