By the end students will either be dreading or looking forward to their own tadpole studies.
The opening and closing life-cycle endpapers differ in only one small way, but it makes all the difference to a class that must deal with the fallout of their teacher’s love for a class pet.
Mr. Stricter is excited on the day the science project hatches: “I always wanted a pet.” The class can keep just one tadpole, releasing the rest back “into the wild.” They choose Bruno. But observant readers will notice that Bruno displays some key differences from the other tadpoles, differences that grow and grow as the days pass. The students quickly see that Bruno is a menace—breaking furniture, eating supplies, and snoring and farting at inopportune times—but love is blind for Mr. Stricter. That is until he gets a much closer view of his new pet. An internal one. His quick-thinking students save the day, and Bruno joins the tadpoles in the wild. But what about the next science project that hatches? No worries. A trip to the pet store satisfies everyone. The palette of mustard yellow, avocado green, turquoise, red, and bright orange gives the illustrations a retro look that is reinforced by Mr. Stricter’s cardigan, bow tie, and high-top sneakers, though he also has a laptop. Mr. Stricter is white, but OHora’s students are notably diverse, his palette also leading to interesting skin and hair colors.
By the end students will either be dreading or looking forward to their own tadpole studies. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: June 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4847-4364-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for...
A gentle voice and familiar pitfalls characterize this tale of a boy navigating the risky road to responsibility.
Gavin is new to his neighborhood and Carver Elementary. He likes his new friend, Richard, and has a typically contentious relationship with his older sister, Danielle. When Gavin’s desire to impress Richard sets off a disastrous chain of events, the boy struggles to evade responsibility for his actions. “After all, it isn’t his fault that Danielle’s snow globe got broken. Sure, he shouldn’t have been in her room—but then, she shouldn’t be keeping candy in her room to tempt him. Anybody would be tempted. Anybody!” opines Gavin once he learns the punishment for his crime. While Gavin has a charming Everyboy quality, and his aversion to Aunt Myrtle’s yapping little dog rings true, little about Gavin distinguishes him from other trouble-prone protagonists. He is, regrettably, forgettable. Coretta Scott King Honor winner English (Francie, 1999) is a teacher whose storytelling usually benefits from her day job. Unfortunately, the pizzazz of classroom chaos is largely absent from this series opener.
This outing lacks the sophistication of such category standards as Clementine; here’s hoping English amps things up for subsequent volumes. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-547-97044-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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