Sure to lure children into the woods.
Clues and descriptive language will spur children to become wintertime trackers.
Rhyming text that begins identically on every other spread—“Look! Look! / Tracks in the snow!”—describes the main characteristics of each track for readers and then asks them to guess who made it. “Tracks with three points, / Tracks like a wedge. / Who left the tracks by the snow-topped hedge?” Smudgy black tracks echo what children would see in nature, and a glimpse of a part of each animal gives a further clue. In this case, the vibrant tip of a blue, yellow, and orange tail. The page turn reveals the answer—a long-tailed pheasant—and a short paragraph of information. Though the rhyme stumbles once (claws with fours), the descriptions of tracks are stellar, giving kids similes and adjectives that they can then use for other things; the duck’s tracks are like kites, the red squirrel’s are like fingers and have claws, and the deer’s are heart-shaped and in two lines. Made with shredded and torn handmade paper and colored pencil, the spreads are filled with gorgeous textures, encouraging the eye to pore over not just the tracks, but the animals’ habitats as well. The snow isn’t flat white; it has shadings and color variations. And while the animals look realistically furry or feathered, the foliage is more stylistic: a pine with lace collars of snow, another with delicately feathered branches. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sure to lure children into the woods. (life-size tracks) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-912757-94-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boxer Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
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