A carefully constructed, absolutely engaging primer on fierce cats in the wild.
Vignettes about lions, jaguars, tigers, pumas, and other predator cats blend science and exciting narratives.
The dangerous and fascinating creatures that make up the Felidae family each get the spotlight in this picture book from wildlife ecologist Williams. Through stories that unfold each hour over the course of a day, from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Williams drops facts about various types of large cat within satisfying scenes. A smart two-page spread introduces the book by explaining which cats belong to the Panthera and Puma branches of the cat family tree, how they are related to domestic cats, and which cat is no longer with us. (Spoiler: The saber-toothed tiger went extinct 10,000 years ago.) The incredible speed of a cheetah, the climbing skills of a black panther, and the stealthy stalking techniques of the puma—which yowls and screeches because it can't roar—aren't just listed as dry facts. They are part of a set of stories that show how these cats interact with environments all over the world and with creatures such as African elephants, black caimans, and spotted hyenas. In between the scenes are more detailed two-page spreads covering camouflage, where cats are found in the wild across the world, their relative sizes, and what biological features make them jump high, chomp strongly, and run at high speeds. Throughout, Prabhat’s graceful art makes vivid use of color as it depicts cats in moments of intense action but stops short of including blood or gore in hunting scenes. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A carefully constructed, absolutely engaging primer on fierce cats in the wild. (glossary, index) (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-68449-207-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Neon Squid/Macmillan
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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
BOOK REVIEW
A winning heads up for younger readers just becoming aware of the wider natural world.
An appeal to share concern for 12 familiar but threatened, endangered, or critically endangered animal species.
The subjects of Marino’s intimate, close-up portraits—fairly naturalistically rendered, though most are also smiling, glancing up at viewers through human eyes, and posed at rest with a cute youngling on lap or flank—steal the show. Still, Clinton’s accompanying tally of facts about each one’s habitat and daily routines, to which the title serves as an ongoing refrain, adds refreshingly unsentimental notes: “A single giraffe kick can kill a lion!”; “[S]hivers of whale sharks can sense a drop of blood if it’s in the water nearby, though they eat mainly plankton.” Along with tucking in collective nouns for each animal (some not likely to be found in major, or any, dictionaries: an “embarrassment” of giant pandas?), the author systematically cites geographical range, endangered status, and assumed reasons for that status, such as pollution, poaching, or environmental change. She also explains the specific meaning of “endangered” and some of its causes before closing with a set of doable activities (all uncontroversial aside from the suggestion to support and visit zoos) and a list of international animal days to celebrate.
A winning heads up for younger readers just becoming aware of the wider natural world. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51432-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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