A welcome example of human efforts to salvage what’s left of the natural world.
Imagine moving a herd of giraffes!
This feel-good environmental story describes how members of a threatened giraffe species were safely transported across the Victoria Nile River to start a new herd in another part of Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. Operation Twiga began in 2016, when it looked like oil drilling was imminent in the giraffes’ grazing area. The Ugandan Wildlife Authority partnered with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation to find out the animals’ current range and new locations where they might also thrive. The story of this project fits well into Markle’s series of reports about animal rescues (The Great Bear Rescue, 2020) and is efficiently and engagingly told. She offers basic facts about Nubian giraffes, discusses the equipment and procedures used for keeping tabs on the animals, explains how experts decided which animals to move and to where, and recounts the actual move in considerable detail. Because one animal has an unusual jawline and a name, Melman, readers can track him through the story and even identify him in the photographs from a variety of sources that immerse youngsters within the scenes and show the diverse human team. Many of these images cross the fold comfortably, and the thoughtful design helps readers follow the text. There’s a happy ending: This and subsequent translocations have been successful enough that the giraffes have produced calves.
A welcome example of human efforts to salvage what’s left of the natural world. (author’s note, further information, glossary, source notes, find out more, index, photo acknowledgments) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781728443218
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Pretty but insubstantial.
Zommer surveys various bird species from around the world in this oversized (almost 14 inches tall tall) volume.
While exuberantly presented, the information is not uniformly expressed from bird to bird, which in the best cases will lead readers to seek out additional information and in the worst cases will lead to frustration. For example, on spreads that feature multiple species, the birds are not labeled. This happens again later when the author presents facts about eggs: Readers learn about camouflaged eggs, but the specific eggs are not identified, making further study extremely difficult. Other facts are misleading: A spread on “city birds” informs readers that “peregrine falcons nest on skyscrapers in New York City”—but they also nest in other large cities. In a sexist note, a peahen is identified as “unlucky” because she “has drab brown feathers” instead of flashy ones like the peacock’s. Illustrations are colorful and mostly identifiable but stylized; Zommer depicts his birds with both eyes visible at all times, even when the bird is in profile. The primary audience for the book appears to be British, as some spreads focus on European birds over their North American counterparts, such as the mute swan versus the trumpeter swan and the European robin versus the American robin. The backmatter, a seven-word glossary and an index, doesn’t provide readers with much support.
Pretty but insubstantial. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: June 4, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-500-65151-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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