A solid introduction to some complicated science.
A nighttime hike offers an opportunity to learn more about the moon.
Within the framework of a parent-and-child outing, Wells introduces all kinds of moon-related information: its gravity pulls Earth’s tides; it’s been visited by both crewed and uncrewed missions; a collision between an asteroid and the Earth is thought to have formed the moon. Wells, the author of numerous science-related titles for primary-grade readers, also discusses the reasons why seasons occur, Earth’s metal core and magnetic shield, and tectonic plates as statements of scientific fact. Corrigan’s cheery, animation-style illustrations show a happy, brown-skinned parent and child walking with their dog through the woods to their destination, a beach bonfire where they roast marshmallows. Along the way, there are illustrations of the Earth and moon orbiting the sun, changing moon phases, the asteroid collision, and the tectonic plates of Earth’s crust. In some images, the child reappears, watching Galileo looking at the moon; appropriately suited, the child is seen exploring the moon, too. The science gets a little lost at times: The crescent moon is shown both waxing and waning in the course of the evening walk, and the frozen water molecules found on the moon are signified by a snowflake. While the pictures will appeal to younger children, the vocabulary is challenging; this might work best as a read-aloud by a scientifically literate caregiver. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A solid introduction to some complicated science. (glossary, selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8075-5275-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort.
A look at the unique ways that 11 globe-spanning animal species construct their homes.
Each creature garners two double-page spreads, which Cherrix enlivens with compelling and at-times jaw-dropping facts. The trapdoor spider constructs a hidden burrow door from spider silk. Sticky threads, fanning from the entrance, vibrate “like a silent doorbell” when walked upon by unwitting insect prey. Prairie dogs expertly dig communal burrows with designated chambers for “sleeping, eating, and pooping.” The largest recorded “town” occupied “25,000 miles and housed as many as 400 million prairie dogs!” Female ants are “industrious insects” who can remove more than a ton of dirt from their colony in a year. Cathedral termites use dirt and saliva to construct solar-cooled towers 30 feet high. Sasaki’s lively pictures borrow stylistically from the animal compendiums of mid-20th-century children’s lit; endpapers and display type elegantly suggest the blues of cyanotypes and architectural blueprints. Jarringly, the lead spread cheerfully extols the prowess of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, “the world’s largest living structure,” while ignoring its accelerating, human-abetted destruction. Calamitously, the honeybee hive is incorrectly depicted as a paper-wasps’ nest, and the text falsely states that chewed beeswax “hardens into glue to shape the hive.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5625-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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