A short flight, soon past—but with plenty of lift.
An invitation to fledgling readers to admire various types of flying craft (while practicing their prepositions).
A jet plane “soars across the sky,” a glider “glides behind a plane,” and other flyers from a toy airplane to the International Space Station go above, below, between, and around in big, bright stock photographs as Allenby repeatedly urges readers to “Look up high!” Following a picture of two young Black groundlings running “beside” one another while holding a toy plane (an image that abandons the book’s premise, but so what) and a final view of an adult hoisting a smiling toddler (both are Black) overhead (“How would YOU zoom across the sky?”), a section for caregivers, in smaller type, takes over, with suggestions for simple activities that further explore or embody positional relationships (pretend to be an air traffic control officer and an aircraft, take part in “a preposition version of I Spy”). It’s a quick read but well designed to put wind beneath the wings of children working to get their minds around language and parts of speech. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A short flight, soon past—but with plenty of lift. (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781772782905
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!”...
A wildlife photographer follows up Whose Butt? (2012) with a fresh portfolio of posteriors.
Showing no traces of fecal matter and only rarely even a glimpse of bare skin, the fuzzy or feathery fundaments on view belong to young creatures ranging from moose to mustang, cottontail to sandhill crane—all photographed in outdoor settings and all followed by longer-shot views of the whole animal, usually with a parent. The accompanying hints and nature notes are informative, if cutesy (“HANG ON! Baby opossums can hang by their tails, but as they grow, they become too heavy for upside-down fun”). In a more businesslike listing at the end, the author adds further comments about diet, range, and behavior for each, along with smaller headshots. Though any mention or image of “butts” will reliably get a rise from young audiences, overall this is more about baby animals in general than a specific portion of their anatomy.
With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!” (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-59193-783-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Adventure Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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