A good introduction to the Wood Wide Web and a reminder that everyone needs a little help sometimes.
Anthropomorphized trees use the Wood Wide Web to support each other in tough times.
Little Tree is a Douglas fir sapling in an old-growth forest where sunlight and water are tough to come by. In despair, Little Tree cries, but trees don’t cry tears; instead, their sadness moves from their roots into the earth and touches a strand of fungus that is part of the Wood Wide Web. The message spreads to nearby trees. Most have reasons they can’t help; only one has energy to spare. Paper Birch sends her extra sugar and water through the Wood Wide Web, and though some of the trees in between take some of the nutrients and the fungus also uses some for itself, there’s still enough left to help Little Tree. And in winter, when Paper Birch loses her leaves and is struggling, Little Tree returns the favor. Some of the words in the closing glossary never appear in either the story or the final note about Professor Suzanne Simard and her discovery of the Wood Wide Web. The Briticism spinney may have readers reaching for the dictionary, and the fir is consistently referred to as having leaves, not needles. The colored pencil illustrations are charming, with patterns, textures, and shadings bringing the trees and other forest animals to life; fall foliage is especially well done. The trees’ faces and branches are expressive.
A good introduction to the Wood Wide Web and a reminder that everyone needs a little help sometimes. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9780711284876
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Ivy Kids
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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