DAISYLOCKS

Name: DAISYLOCKS
Author: Marianne Berkes
ISBN: 978-1-62855-206-5

by Marianne Berkes ; illustrated by Cathy Morrison ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2014

Though it’s too bad Daisylocks’ botanical name (Bellis perennis) is never used, it’s nevertheless an inventive introduction...

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The story of a daisy seed looking for the best place to grow is here used as a tool to introduce different habitats.

Dissatisfied with where she’s first planted, Daisylocks—the reference to Goldilocks becomes clear as the pages turn—asks Wind to assist her, and across the pages she arcs, looking rather a lot like a dandelion seed with a contrail. First, Wind takes her to the desert, which is too hot. The tundra is too cold, and the wetlands are too wet. Daisylocks and Wind banter, till Wind gets rather exasperated, pointing out finally that where she was originally planted was the only place that was “just right!”—and that is where she ends up. A large, clear sans-serif type allows the text to stand out, in black or white, against hyper-realistic, close-up double-page spreads of rain forest, beach, mountain and so on, all full of plant and animal life. The bottom right-hand corner of each spread shows the growth of an actual daisy, from tiny seed to full flowering, and that’s lovely. Backmatter on plants and habitats is included (and can be reproduced for educational use); other such items can be found on the publisher’s website.

Though it’s too bad Daisylocks’ botanical name (Bellis perennis) is never used, it’s nevertheless an inventive introduction to habitats. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: March 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-62855-206-5

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Arbordale Publishing

Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
OVER ON A DESERT
by Marianne Berkes ; illustrated by Jill Dubin

- BOOK REVIEW
BABY ON BOARD
by Marianne Berkes ; illustrated by Cathy Morrison

- BOOK REVIEW
OVER IN THE GRASSLANDS
by Marianne Berkes ; illustrated by Jill Dubin

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TOUCH THE EARTH

From the Julian Lennon White Feather Flier Adventure series , Vol. 1

by Julian Lennon with Bart Davis ; illustrated by Smiljana Coh ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2017

“It’s time to head back home,” the narrator concludes. “You’ve touched the Earth in so many ways.” Who knew it would be so...

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A pro bono Twinkie of a book invites readers to fly off in a magic plane to bring clean water to our planet’s oceans, deserts, and brown children.

Following a confusingly phrased suggestion beneath a soft-focus world map to “touch the Earth. Now touch where you live,” a shake of the volume transforms it into a plane with eyes and feathered wings that flies with the press of a flat, gray “button” painted onto the page. Pressing like buttons along the journey releases a gush of fresh water from the ground—and later, illogically, provides a filtration device that changes water “from yucky to clean”—for thirsty groups of smiling, brown-skinned people. At other stops, a tap on the button will “help irrigate the desert,” and touching floating bottles and other debris in the ocean supposedly makes it all disappear so the fish can return. The 20 children Coh places on a globe toward the end are varied of skin tone, but three of the four young saviors she plants in the flier’s cockpit as audience stand-ins are white. The closing poem isn’t so openly parochial, though it seldom rises above vague feel-good sentiments: “Love the Earth, the moon and sun. / All the children can be one.”

“It’s time to head back home,” the narrator concludes. “You’ve touched the Earth in so many ways.” Who knew it would be so easy to clean the place up and give everyone a drink? (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: April 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-5107-2083-1

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- BOOK REVIEW
HEAL THE EARTH
by Julian Lennon & Bart Davis ; illustrated by Smiljana Coh

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PLUTO GETS THE CALL

by Adam Rex ; illustrated by Laurie Keller ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 12, 2019

Hurray for the underdog.

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Heart (-shaped surface feature) literally broken by its demotion from planet status, Pluto glumly conducts readers on a tour of the solar system.

You’d be bummed, too. Angrily rejecting the suggestions of “mean scientists” from Earth that “ice dwarf” or “plutoid” might serve as well (“Would you like to be called humanoid?”), Pluto drifts out of the Kuiper Belt to lead readers past the so-called “real” planets in succession. All sport faces with googly eyes in Keller’s bright illustrations, and distinct personalities, too—but also actual physical characteristics (“Neptune is pretty icy. And gassy. I’m not being mean, he just is”) that are supplemented by pages of “fun facts” at the end. Having fended off Saturn’s flirtation, endured Jupiter’s stormy reception (“Keep OFF THE GAS!”) and relentless mockery from the asteroids, and given Earth the cold shoulder, Pluto at last takes the sympathetic suggestion of Venus and Mercury to talk to the Sun. “She’s pretty bright.” A (what else?) warm welcome, plus our local star’s comforting reminders that every celestial body is unique (though “people talk about Uranus for reasons I don’t really want to get into”), and anyway, scientists are still arguing the matter because that’s what “science” is all about, mend Pluto’s heart at last: “Whatever I’m called, I’ll always be PLUTO!”

Hurray for the underdog. (afterword) (Informational picture book. 6-8)