Fresh and breezy, if a bit thin.
An invitation to appreciate the invisible blanket of gases that protect our planet.
In a similarly whimsical follow-up to Drop: An Adventure Through the Water Cycle (2021), a white puff with a smiley face and a stylish quiff conducts readers through simple explanations of how our atmosphere goes everywhere—even deep into the oceans and beneath the surface of the land—to help keep Earth warm, carry droplets of water, deliver the oxygen we require and the carbon dioxide plants need to survive, and spread pollen and seeds. All the smiles, plus neatly drawn flora and fauna floating through blue waters or wafting by under sunny skies, create a beneficent picture undimmed by any mention of hurricanes or jet streams; even the swirling tornado quickly gives way to an assurance that “most of the time, Puff cruises gently” from warmer areas to cooler or vice versa. Sandwiched between summary overviews of our atmosphere’s composition and the ins and outs of forces governing atmospheric circulation, the tour concludes with a cheery “Yay! Breathe it all in!” Two brown-skinned human children do just that in the illustrations, either sitting mindfully or standing beneath a windswept kite.
Fresh and breezy, if a bit thin. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593617960
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Norma Dixon’s Lowdown on Earthworms (2005) digs deeper into the subject, but this lays fertile groundwork for budding...
Beginning readers who tunnel through this upbeat first introduction will “dig” them too.
After an opening look at several kinds of worm (including the candy sort), McCloskey drills down to the nitty-gritty on earthworms. He describes how they help soil with their digging and “poop” (“EEW!”) and presents full-body inside and outside views with labeled parts. He also answers in the worms’ collective voice such questions as “Why do you come out after the rain?” and “How big is the biggest worm in the world?” that are posed by a multiethnic cast of intent young investigators in the cartoon illustrations. A persistent but frustrated bluebird’s “Yum, yum!!” and rejected invitations to lunch offer indirect references to worms as food sources, and reproductive details are likewise limited to oblique notes that worms have big families “born from cocoons.” Single scenes mingle with short sequences of panels in pictures that are drawn on brown paper bags for an appropriately earthy look.
Norma Dixon’s Lowdown on Earthworms (2005) digs deeper into the subject, but this lays fertile groundwork for budding naturalists. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-935179-80-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2015
An ideal lead-in to more specific guides to aquarium setup and fish care.
A first introduction to our planet’s finny residents, particularly the decidedly uncommon goldfish.
Preceded by an entire piscatorial ABC that extends over six pages, two children of color lecture an audience of house pets (and readers) about such typical fishy features as scales and gills—properly noting that some fish, like certain eels, have no scales and some, like hagfish, no bony spines. The two then zero in on goldfish, explaining that they are easier to keep at home than tropical fish, originated long ago in China, can recognize the faces of people who bring them food, and with proper care live 25 years. All of this information is presented in a mix of dialogue balloons and single lines of commentary in block letters, accompanying cleanly drawn cartoon illustrations that alternate between a domestic setting and labeled portraits of various fish rendered in fine, exact detail. With easily digestible doses of biological and historical background, common-sense cautionary notes, and a buoyant tone, this is an appealing dive for newly independent readers out to enhance the household menagerie.
An ideal lead-in to more specific guides to aquarium setup and fish care. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943145-15-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
