The Lewins’ latest travelogue offers typically vivid glimpses of distinctive wildlife, but is marred by anachronistic references to the indigenous human population, plus repeated reference to the persistent but wrong idea that draining water turns in different directions on different sides of the equator. Adding light-hearted commentary to a mix of Ted’s distinctive, expert watercolors and Betsy’s comic figures, the two visit a billabong in Kakadu National Park in the north of Australia and the wildlife preserve on Kangaroo Island to the south. They catch sight of the likes of kangaroos, sea lions, tall storks, a platypus, several saltwater crocodiles, an echidna and as night brings a sense of closure, a flock of tiny fairy penguins. People seldom appear in the painted scenes, but several sketched vignettes labeled “(ALL CIRCA 1900),” and so presumably copied rather than directly observed, superfluously shoehorn in picturesque groups of thong-clad Aborigines hunting and gathering. Australia’s flora and fauna are always worth a gander, but next to the Lewins’ Gorilla Walk (1999) and Elephant Quest (2000), this outing has a touristy superficiality. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-688-14113-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2005
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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