Weak on the math but should interest a number of wild animal lovers.
Giraffes by the numbers.
“Giraffe numbers are everywhere,” coos twiggy Twiga, giraffe narrator, who goes on to lay out typical measurements for their bodies and select parts, from ossicones atop their heads (“They can reach a length of over 10 inches. If you’re seven or eight years old, that is almost the length of your arm”) to pizza-pie–sized hooves. Along with other number-based nuggets like speed, she names the four giraffe species (reticulated, Masai, southern, and northern)—distinguishable in Valério’s paint and paper collage scenes by their patterns of spots—and mentions predators, diet, social behavior, and other basic non-numerate facts. The “math” is more notional than exact as, for instance, schematic lines show how the stiff-legged postures of drinking giraffes form equilateral or isosceles triangles, but the difference between the two is not explained. Also, a reference to “percentages” at the end may be confusing, since neither the word nor the symbol is used elsewhere. Invitations to compare measurements with those of other animals remain an abstract exercise, as the accompanying illustrations are not consistently to scale. The backmatter includes a range map and a note on the giraffe life cycle. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Weak on the math but should interest a number of wild animal lovers. (glossary, quiz, metric conversion chart, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9780316346771
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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
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
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