Pretty to look at, but a thin and iffy helping of natural history.
Birds aren’t the only nest builders hiding beneath these scallop-edged gatefolds.
Cochrane poses clues to answer the titular question in alliterative riddles that, clumsily, all end with a pair of questions: “Who am I?” and “Whose nest?” The questions have the same answer, which are given, as are the riddles themselves, in each animal’s first-person voice. Parting the double flaps on each recto reveals one of eight accurately rendered animals, ranging from an eagle and a hummingbird to a gecko, a clownfish and a bumblebee. Troughton creates idyllic, soft-focus, close-up nature scenes within which he tucks a glimpse of leg, tail or other visual clue for sharp-eyed young viewers to spot. On the other hand, he ignores both the tree frog’s “I climb up tree trunks and perch on lofty boughs,” and the bumblebee’s “I tunnel in the deep, dark earth,” depicting the frog at ground level in a wetland setting and bees' nests lying on the surface. Moreover, children on this side of the pond aren’t likely to encounter a dormouse (though it is pretty cute).
Pretty to look at, but a thin and iffy helping of natural history. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-60887-204-6
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Insight Editions
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2013
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity.
Buzz and his buzzy buddy open a spinoff series of nonfiction early readers with an aquarium visit.
Buzz: “Like other fish, sharks breathe through gills.” Fly Guy: “GILLZZ.” Thus do the two pop-eyed cartoon tour guides squire readers past a plethora of cramped but carefully labeled color photos depicting dozens of kinds of sharks in watery settings, along with close-ups of skin, teeth and other anatomical features. In the bite-sized blocks of narrative text, challenging vocabulary words like “carnivores” and “luminescence” come with pronunciation guides and lucid in-context definitions. Despite all the flashes of dentifrice and references to prey and smelling blood in the water, there is no actual gore or chowing down on display. Sharks are “so cool!” proclaims Buzz at last, striding out of the gift shop. “I can’t wait for our next field trip!” (That will be Fly Guy Presents: Space, scheduled for September 2013.)
A first-rate sharkfest, unusually nutritious for all its brevity. (Informational easy reader. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-50771-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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