A pretty, thoughtful celebration.
Stewart and Brannen illuminate the parallel lives of two butterfly species.
The author focuses on the familiar orange monarch and the less-celebrated brown mourning cloak, comparing their adaptations through accessible verse. Poems like “Spotting Butterflies” contrast the monarch’s warning coloration (“Bright orange wings / keep it safe. / They scream, ‘Poison!’ / They stand out— / warning predators / to stay away”) with the mourning cloak’s camouflage strategy. Brannen’s illustrations, rendered in watercolor, pen, and pencil, evoke authentic field sketches, complete with color-swatch palettes, date and time stamps, and observational notes presented in a naturalist’s handwriting. The golden meadow spreads capturing monarchs gliding through purple coneflowers and daisies feel sun-drenched and alive, while forest scenes depicting mourning cloaks among oak trees use cooler greens and grays to convey shadowy woodland habitats. The stunning “A Winter’s Rest: Monarch” spread demonstrates Brannen’s meticulous attention to detail—hundreds of individual monarchs clustering on fir branches in their Mexican hibernation site create a mesmerizing tapestry of orange and black against evergreen and sky blue. Additional text expands on the poems with substantial scientific information about anatomy, life cycles, and survival strategies, while a spread titled “The Joy of Journaling” encourages readers to create their own nature notebooks. The sheer amount of information might overwhelm casual browsers, but enthusiastic young naturalists will devour every detail.
A pretty, thoughtful celebration. (sources, further reading) (informational picture book/poetry. 4-8)Pub Date: March 3, 2026
ISBN: 9781665962711
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 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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