A unique introduction to traditional and innovative agricultural options.
A dozen sustainable farms around the world offer intriguing possibilities for the future of agriculture.
Simple four-beat rhyming couplets concisely describe a plethora of farming methods old and new around the world, many of which will be especially useful in light of climate change. A salt farm on Kaua, an urban food forest in Nairobi, a Yemeni honey farm, a garden on the roof of Boston’s Fenway Park—all grow different edibles suited to their environment. A fish “farm” in Brazil is made up of the Enawenê-Nawê people’s handwoven fish traps held in place by a temporary dam. In contrast, the Solar Supertrees (among many vertical farms and gardens in Singapore) are technological marvels, providing solar power and collecting rainwater. A couple of underwater hydroponic biospheres in Italy and an Australian aquaculture oyster farm are followed by circular gardens in Senegal, “where Sahara and savanna meet,” and Indian dobas that collect water for dry-season use. A helpful feature of the book is the pronunciation guidance, and on every page, unobtrusive insets define terms like erosion, compost, brood, and sustainable. Attractive collagelike compositions use vivid blue, green, tan, and other hues to depict diverse people, with just enough detail to grab the eye. The backmatter puts the various farms on a world map and compresses into a few pages a lot of information on the farms and techniques. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique introduction to traditional and innovative agricultural options. (Informational picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781646868391
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Wow.
The stories of the births of the universe, the planet Earth, and a human child are told in this picture book.
Bauer begins with cosmic nothing: “In the dark / in the deep, deep dark / a speck floated / invisible as thought / weighty as God.” Her powerful words build the story of the creation of the universe, presenting the science in poetic free verse. First, the narrative tells of the creation of stars by the Big Bang, then the explosions of some of those stars, from which dust becomes the matter that coalesces into planets, then the creation of life on Earth: a “lucky planet…neither too far / nor too near…its yellow star…the Sun.” Holmes’ digitally assembled hand-marbled paper-collage illustrations perfectly pair with the text—in fact the words and illustrations become an inseparable whole, as together they both delineate and suggest—the former telling the story and the latter, with their swirling colors suggestive of vast cosmos, contributing the atmosphere. It’s a stunning achievement to present to readers the factual events that created the birth of the universe, the planet Earth, and life on Earth with such an expressive, powerful creativity of words paired with illustrations so evocative of the awe and magic of the cosmos. But then the story goes one brilliant step further and gives the birth of a child the same beginning, the same sense of magic, the same miracle.
Wow. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7883-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
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