by Dinah Johnson ; illustrated by April Harrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 19, 2022
A gem that whets the appetite to learn more about a city where art is as alive as the people who live there.
An alphabetic journey through Harlem, past and present.
Beginning with “A is for Apollo Theater” and ending with “Z is for Zora Neale Hurston,” this historically rich picture book highlights the significant people, places, works of art, memorable publications, and more that have long made Harlem a hub of Black culture. Some letters focus on well-known institutions, such as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Harlem Globetrotters. Others shed light on lesser-known individuals like Mabel Fairbanks and Sharon Cohen, who created a pathway for Black youth to learn figure skating, and Impact Farm, an organization that has turned abandoned lots into thriving urban gardens. Harrison’s stunning, colorful, highly textured illustrations complement and expand upon Johnson’s textual snapshots, which offer just enough detail to encourage children to deepen their knowledge of Harlem. Johnson also gives a nod to other children’s picture-book creators by spotlighting Bryan Collier, whose award-winning picture book Uptown celebrates Harlem. This is a beautiful and welcome celebration of Black joy. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gem that whets the appetite to learn more about a city where art is as alive as the people who live there. (author's note) (Picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-316-32237-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
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by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023
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
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by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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