Engaging and enlightening fun.
Fancifully presented facts about flamingos.
Cushman has hit upon an appealing formula for introducing young readers to wondrous animals. Here, she pairs well-chosen information with lighthearted illustrations that include humorous speech-bubble commentary from the flamingos themselves. Fans of her Wombats Are Pretty Weird (2023) will recognize the somewhat clueless “pea-greeny” snake who joins the party and interjects observations and questions (“We can get pizza delivered out here, right?”). Adults reading the book aloud at storytime will relish the extreme close-ups in the opening images. Early on, a world map shows where each of the six flamingo species can be found. Cushman explains why flamingos are pink and covers courtship rituals, chick rearing, social habits, habitat, and adaptations. She pays special attention to their feeding habits and anatomy (their unusual beaks allow them to eat upside down and to filter food out of the water; they’re more comfortable on one leg than two). The book includes many memorable facts: The birds use makeup (a gland near their tail produces oil that they rub onto their cheeks and feathers) to attract mates, their nests are volcano-shaped, and they regurgitate bright red crop milk to feed their chicks. Occasionally, more detailed explanations are set off in boxes. A final spread includes photos of each species, along with their scientific names, size, conservation status, and threats they face.
Engaging and enlightening fun. (glossary, further reading) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: June 4, 2024
ISBN: 9780063234444
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
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
BOOK REVIEW
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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