Despite some misalignment between form and content, an attractive, informative presentation.
Adopting the haiku form, Walker examines trees, from seed to crown, from ancient times to modern.
In 10 sections, verses—sparsely punctuated and without initial capitalization—vary in function, alternating the oblique delivery of facts with often lovely metaphor. The section “What’s in a Name?” begins factually: “scientific names / (two-word Latin tongue twisters) / prevent confusion.” The next verse shifts whimsically: “Ginkgo biloba: / hungry mouths chomp chewy greens— / dinosaur salad.” Walker’s imagery is deft, as in these assonant lines: “covered with gray fur / pussywillow catkins cling: / kittens on slim twigs.” The scope is impressive; sweeping across eons, from ancient tree ferns to urban forests, Walker covers seed reproduction, the nutritive function of xylem and phloem tubes, leaf biology, environmental symbiosis, and forest habitats. Mckay’s gouache illustrations emphasize stylized charm over visual verisimilitude, sidestepping opportunities to visually extend the distilled text. A tree’s concentric growth circles, well explained in the backmatter, get a cartoonish treatment, while the “Leaf Laboratories” section chiefly presents leaves as indistinguishable blobs on branches. Simple labels might have allayed confusion between xylem tubes and phloem tubes. People in treehouses and parks are diverse. An excellent six-page informational section expands on the text’s 10 topic areas. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Despite some misalignment between form and content, an attractive, informative presentation. (timeline, information on trees, author’s note, glossary, bibliography, books, websites) (Informational picture book/poetry. 6-9)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1550-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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 in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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