Another appealing title in a long series of demonstrations of nature’s wonders.
A prolific author/illustrator couple explores the world of frogs.
Once again, Jenkins and Page prove their ability to choose interesting examples, write short, child-friendly explanations, and portray salient features of animals with deftly cut and torn paper images set on white paper. They introduce frogs as “creatures of two worlds,” water and land. The next spread displays half-sized images of 10 of the more than 5,500 frog species currently identified, showing an adult human hand in comparison. In two subsequent spreads, they highlight distinguishing characteristics of frogs as well as of the subset that are called toads, and they define the three major groups of amphibians: frogs and toads, salamanders and newts, and caecilians. They show development from egg through tadpole to adult. Then come examples of remarkable behaviors, drawn from varied environments around the world. These behaviors include adaptations for attracting a mate, caring (or not caring) for eggs, habitat, diet, and defenses. Finally, in a spread on threats, they compare frogs to a “canary in a coal mine” (explaining the reference). A concluding table lists all 30 frogs shown, with body length, diet, and range and acts as an index by indicating page numbers where these frogs can be found. (Helpfully and fairly unusually, for a picture book, there are numbers on every spread.) The backmatter also includes a good list of other books for young readers as well as internet sources.
Another appealing title in a long series of demonstrations of nature’s wonders. (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-544-38760-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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