Well-meant but not convincing.
Reuse and recycling happen throughout the natural world; you should do it, too.
Spread by spread, a collection of curious animal behaviors and the endless loop of the water cycle are offered as examples of recycling in the natural world. From a decorator sea urchin, protected by his collection of ocean refuse, to an Asian elephant’s meal of the banana leaf she first used as a fan, the text and slightly cartoony illustrations offer varied images of adaptive reuse. The animals are treated as individuals with intention. “Hermit crab helps keep the earth beautiful too.” A quiz in the end matter makes the point explicit: Animals “recycle for nests or shelters, camouflage or protection, as tools, or as nutrients.” Some may find this definition of recycling far-fetched and irresponsibly anthropomorphic, but the wide-ranging examples are intriguing. An elf owl makes its nest in an old woodpecker hole in a Sonoran Desert cactus. In the Indian Ocean, a veined octopus carries empty coconut halves to use as an emergency hiding place. In Africa, a dung beetle feeds its hatchlings “rhino poop.” The final page shows a diverse group of young humans washing a bicycle with rags from outgrown clothes. “I recycle. How about you?” But why humans should do this is not explained.
Well-meant but not convincing. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60718-615-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sylvan Dell
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
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