A quirky, entertaining tale for ages 6 to 11, interwoven with humor, real-world information about animal behavior and...
Israeli author Samos mixes real-life animal lore into a colorful tale of woodland creatures banding together when humankind encroaches on their forest home.
Told in the voice of Nemo, a spirited, observant mole rat, the saga begins with a rainstorm that nearly drowns Nemo and his brother Chico in their burrow. The little mole has another narrow escape, this time from the talons of Attila the hawk. Then Dolly, a “gossipy”—and clearly literate—gecko, learns that the forest is to be cleared for the building of human houses. Under a truce between predators and prey, Max the owl holds an emergency woodland council and the decision is made—the animals must leave the forest for a new home. As bulldozers close in, Attila, two foxes and a snake scout out the possibilities, and the risky trek begins. Just as all seems well, the newcomers are confronted by a battle-minded band of fearsome, territorial crows. While the plot may be familiar, Samos infuses it with quirky humor and compassion, and despite cartoon-style illustrations that give Nemo dark glasses and Chico a baseball cap, tidbits of real-life nature are nicely integrated throughout—Mole rats may be nearly blind, Nemo points out, but they have acute senses of hearing and smell; Boomer the woodpecker uses his “fantastic sense of hearing” to find caterpillars under the tree bark; Dolly the gecko hunts insects in the crevices of a human habitat called “the country club”; and Arthur may be a “very handsome brown and yellow lizard,” but his frightening hiss “really got on my nerves,” Nemo confides.
A quirky, entertaining tale for ages 6 to 11, interwoven with humor, real-world information about animal behavior and compassion for animals who must survive the daily challenges that nature throws at them—and the consequences of human endeavor.Pub Date: July 14, 2011
ISBN: 978-1456781873
Page Count: 47
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The book is not entirely negative; final chapters indicate roads of reversal, before it is too late!
It should come as no surprise that the gifted author of The Sea Around Usand its successors can take another branch of science—that phase of biology indicated by the term ecology—and bring it so sharply into focus that any intelligent layman can understand what she is talking about.
Understand, yes, and shudder, for she has drawn a living portrait of what is happening to this balance nature has decreed in the science of life—and what man is doing (and has done) to destroy it and create a science of death. Death to our birds, to fish, to wild creatures of the woods—and, to a degree as yet undetermined, to man himself. World War II hastened the program by releasing lethal chemicals for destruction of insects that threatened man’s health and comfort, vegetation that needed quick disposal. The war against insects had been under way before, but the methods were relatively harmless to other than the insects under attack; the products non-chemical, sometimes even introduction of other insects, enemies of the ones under attack. But with chemicals—increasingly stronger, more potent, more varied, more dangerous—new chain reactions have set in. And ironically, the insects are winning the war, setting up immunities, and re-emerging, their natural enemies destroyed. The peril does not stop here. Waters, even to the underground water tables, are contaminated; soils are poisoned. The birds consume the poisons in their insect and earthworm diet; the cattle, in their fodder; the fish, in the waters and the food those waters provide. And humans? They drink the milk, eat the vegetables, the fish, the poultry. There is enough evidence to point to the far-reaching effects; but this is only the beginning,—in cancer, in liver disorders, in radiation perils…This is the horrifying story. It needed to be told—and by a scientist with a rare gift of communication and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Already the articles taken from the book for publication in The New Yorkerare being widely discussed. Book-of-the-Month distribution in October will spread the message yet more widely.
The book is not entirely negative; final chapters indicate roads of reversal, before it is too late!Pub Date: Sept. 27, 1962
ISBN: 061825305X
Page Count: 378
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1962
APPRECIATIONS
Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.
A popular novelist turns his hand to historical writing, focusing on what shipwrecks can tell us.
There’s something inherently romantic about shipwrecks: the mystery, the drama of disaster, the prospect of lost treasure. Gibbins, who’s found acclaim as an author of historical fiction, has long been fascinated with them, and his expertise in both archaeology and diving provides a tone of solid authority to his latest book. The author has personally dived on more than half the wrecks discussed in the book; for the other cases, he draws on historical records and accounts. “Wrecks offer special access to history at all…levels,” he writes. “Unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated. What might seem hazy in other evidence can be sharply defined, pointing the way to fresh insights.” Gibbins covers a wide variety of cases, including wrecks dating from classical times; a ship torpedoed during World War II; a Viking longship; a ship of Arab origin that foundered in Indonesian waters in the ninth century; the Mary Rose, the flagship of the navy of Henry VIII; and an Arctic exploring vessel, the Terror (for more on that ship, read Paul Watson’s Ice Ghost). Underwater excavation often produces valuable artifacts, but Gibbins is equally interested in the material that reveals the society of the time. He does an excellent job of placing each wreck within a broader context, as well as examining the human elements of the story. The result is a book that will appeal to readers with an interest in maritime history and who would enjoy a different, and enlightening, perspective.
Gibbins combines historical knowledge with a sense of adventure, making this book a highly enjoyable package.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781250325372
Page Count: 304
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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