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BORDER CROSSINGS

Name: BORDER CROSSINGS
Author: Sneed B. Collard III
ISBN: 978-1-62354-238-2

by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Howard Gray ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 24, 2023

A convincing argument against border walls that even offers practical solutions.

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A passionate screed about the detrimental effects of the U.S. southern border walls on ecosystems, particularly wild animals.

A beautiful ocelot, one of only about 50 in the wild in the United States, prowls south in the springtime, seeking a mate. But the quietly moving cat encounters “something unexpected. Something frightening.” The obstacle is a 2,000-mile series of slats making up the border wall that separates the United States from Mexico in an effort to slow undocumented immigration. The ocelot is next scared off by a vehicle. “He will not find a mate or territory this year. Maybe not any year,” readers learn. The book then switches perspective to another ocelot on the opposite side of the wall before widening its view to discuss how entire areas of nature, even birds, are harmed by the human-made structures. Illustrations by Gray contrast the hard, unyielding structure, in one instance decorated by humans with counterdeclarations of love and peace, with the graceful curves of nature. Even the cacti look inviting. While the book’s conclusion is bleak, an author’s note explains with more context the extent of the problem and what nature lovers can do to help advocate for changes to the highly politicized border walls that would better accommodate animals and fauna. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A convincing argument against border walls that even offers practical solutions. (glossary, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-62354-238-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Charlesbridge

Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
DEFENDING NATURE
by Sneed B. Collard III

- BOOK REVIEW
LIKE NO OTHER
by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal

- BOOK REVIEW
BEAVER AND OTTER GET ALONG...SORT OF
by Sneed B. Collard III ; illustrated by Meg Sodano

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
ODE TO GRAPEFRUIT
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Bryan Collier

- BOOK REVIEW
WE MOVE THE WORLD
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.

As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.

Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)