More tools for young naturalists’ outdoor adventures.
Readers can now add animal houses to Butts (2018) and Tracks (2020) as ways to identify the presence of various animals.
With a format similar to that in Tekiela’s three previous works (Whose Track Is That?, 2020, etc.), the book presents readers with a double-page spread featuring some clues, the titular question, and an up-close photo of an animal home. After guessing, children can turn the page to find the answer, some facts, and a couple additional photos of the animal. Some clues are giveaways while others are more difficult: A small, round home the right size for “a mommy and her eggs” is a robin’s nest; and a warm, dry underground home continually occupied for up to six winter months is a black bear’s den. But some pictures may lead readers astray. While Tekiela writes of a home that “looks…like a mound of dirt…[that] also serves as a lookout,” his picture is an overhead view that looks like a hole. And savvy readers may argue with the author’s calling a monarch’s chrysalis and a garden spider’s web “houses.” The other featured North American animals are bald eagle, bald-faced hornet, American beaver, prairie dog, sunfish, cottontail rabbit, and common ant. Pronunciation and definitions are provided in the text. Tekiela’s macro images of the insects are standouts among the intriguing photos.
More tools for young naturalists’ outdoor adventures. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64755-074-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
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)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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