PLB 0-06-205181-4 Seidler (Mean Margaret, 1997, etc.) returns to the urbane, slightly distant tone of his older books for this uneven tale of a shy young birder stepping forward to defend a rare species from extermination. Painfully self conscious about her stutter, Katerina Farnsworth spends most of her time after school either alone, or out on the water with her father Robert watching birds—particularly the small, spectacular divers they’ve dubbed “spillbills,” which are not in any reference book and have inspired Farnsworth Aeronautics’s latest prototype jet, the Spillbill Z. The suspense that readers anticipate never develops, despite a plot that includes Robert’s trip to a space station that suddenly falls silent, a budding but rocky friendship between Katerina and a very eligible schoolmate, and her cantankerous CEO grandfather’s decision to poison the spillbills after they twice cause the prototype to crash. Seidler plays many scenes for comedy rather than drama, and typecasts or caricatures his characters, notably, Katerina’s grandfather and her cigarette-puffing, German-psychiatrist mother. Katerina’s versions of terror, grief, and indignation often come across only as mild anxiety. Furthermore, the author frequently bestows point- of-view on one adult or another, and in the end, it’s not Katerina but her mother who argues most persuasively against killing the birds. Seidler is a polished writer, but readers will find stories with similar themes, such as David Klass’s California Blue (1994), more compelling. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-06-205180-6
Page Count: 216
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1998
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Baker (Big Fat Hen, 1994, etc.) engages in more number play, posing ducklings in every combination of groups, e.g., “Splashing as they leap and dive/7 ducklings, 2 plus 5.” Using a great array of streaked and dappled papers, Baker creates a series of leafy collage scenes for the noisy, exuberant ducklings to fill, tucking in an occasional ladybug or other small creature for sharp-eyed pre-readers to spot. Children will regretfully wave goodbye as the ducks fly off in neat formation at the end of this brief, painless introduction to several basic math concepts. (Picture book. 4-6)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-292858-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
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