A book for the Everglades and its human allies.
Learn about the Everglades and a passionate life.
A vivid double-page panorama rooted in friendly greens and blues introduces the birth of the Everglades from a stream in Florida. This saw grass–filled place is presented as one of the most biodiverse places in the world, with nine active ecosystems. Some text loosely follows a “House That Jack Built” structure to show relationships among ecosystem elements. Animal inhabitants fly and swim gently across the pages in bright colors and animation-level detail that catches the eye, with minimal shadow or textures. As the human threat to the area is swiftly introduced, so are Marjory and Ernest, two White friends who share an awe for the cypress, birds, panthers, and other dynamic flora and fauna. Together, they lobby for a bill to create Everglades National Park. As they show lawmakers the area from an airship, hope rises but is quickly crushed. In the end, establishing the park is made possible only by heightened public awareness via Marjory’s 1947 book. The frank presentation of the lengthy struggle to protect the ecosystems in the Everglades shares meaningful ideas about persistence and potential payoff for pursuing passions. Little is shared about Douglas in the main text aside from her tireless efforts on behalf of the Everglades and her mission-driven friendship with Ernest. A biographical note helps to flesh her life out a bit more.
A book for the Everglades and its human allies. (further information, advocacy suggestions, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 4-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8075-8496-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
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
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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