A good guessing game but not a great resource to take into the field.
When Tekiela, who previously challenged readers to guess Whose Baby Butt? (2018) can’t find any animal butts, he must make do with snapping pics of their tracks.
The first of two double-page spreads gives readers a close-up photo of an animal track in sand, snow, or mud on the recto and a large-print clue, a tiny silhouette of the animal, and a small-print hint on the verso, the combination of which makes it almost impossible for readers not to be successful. (“This animal’s front paws look like a person’s hand, with five fingers. / It sometimes even dunks its food in water! / Whose track is that? / HINT: This animal has black rings around its tail.”) The following spread reveals a full-color picture of the animal (a raccoon, in this case) and some information about it. The photos of the tracks are a mixed bag. Some are difficult to make out, and the majority show only a single print, though the otter’s row of tracks does include a slide. Robin, bullfrog, earthworm, deer, bobcat, dog, beaver, Canada goose, and bear are the other animals. A backmatter spread of the full tracks of each animal provides readers with very clear illustrations for comparison, but there is no guidance on where to look for or how to cast tracks. Each is labeled with the relative size of the print, and a ruler (in inches only) runs along the bottom.
A good guessing game but not a great resource to take into the field. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-59193-958-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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
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