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WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

Name: WHAT'S THE BUZZ?
Author: Merrie-Ellen Wilcox
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0960-4

KEEPING BEES IN FLIGHT

From the Orca Footprints series

by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 22, 2015

As comprehensive an introduction as can be found in 48 pages.

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Author and hobbyist beekeeper Wilcox presents a cheery introduction to honeybees and their wild cousins.

Wilcox covers a lot of territory in a brief book, notably including quite a lot of information about bumblebees and other undomesticated bees as well as a healthy helping of facts about honeybees. From an overview that distinguishes between bees and wasps and then among types of bees and a bit of honeybee history, Wilcox moves on to bees as pollinators, both those used in commercial agriculture and specialist bees that focus on just certain types of blossoms, such as the squash bee. She covers bee behavior and roles, swarming, and what beekeepers do before moving on to cover threats to bees such as neonicotinoids and the varroa mite. The text is broken into brief chapters, which are then broken into short sections, and the design includes both bright, mostly stock photographs and sidebars. Specialized vocabulary (“nectar,” “industrial agriculture,” etc.) is italicized within the text and defined in a closing glossary. The resource list includes only two books, both aimed at adults, but the list of websites includes several that are kid-friendly. Wilcox’s tone is upbeat, and though her use of the exclamation mark is perhaps overdone, her enthusiasm for her subject is both genuine and infectious.

As comprehensive an introduction as can be found in 48 pages. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4598-0960-4

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
NATURE OUT OF BALANCE
by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox

- BOOK REVIEW
AFTER LIFE
by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox

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THE WILD ROBOT PROTECTS

From the Wild Robot series , Vol. 3

by Peter Brown ; illustrated by Peter Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 26, 2023

Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.

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Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.

When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.

Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023

ISBN: 9780316669412

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S ACTION & ADVENTURE FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
CREEPY CRAYON!
by Aaron Reynolds ; illustrated by Peter Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
FRED GETS DRESSED
by Peter Brown ; illustrated by Peter Brown

- BOOK REVIEW
THE WILD ROBOT ESCAPES
by Peter Brown ; illustrated by Peter Brown

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CHARLOTTE'S WEB

by E.B. White illustrated by Garth Williams ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 1952

The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...

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A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.

Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.

The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.