Attention-grabbing if not truly glowing.
All around the world, while humans sleep, there are animals active at night.
After an opening spread introducing the idea of nocturnal animals and a few of their adaptations, this unusual album offers a simulation of looking through a night-vision scope into different environments: woodland, country road, urban neighborhood, beach, desert, and so forth. Each illustration (rounded, as if viewed through a scope, with top and bottom edges bleeding off the page) fills three-quarters of the spread; the text, white on black, sits alongside. Five animals from the scene are identified in short paragraphs, and there’s a question (answers in the back). Some creatures or parts of creatures have been highlighted with phosphorescent paint, visible in darkness for a short while if the page has been held under a lamp for a few minutes. These illustrations invite repeated exploration; the glow-in-the-dark effect advertised on the cover is intriguing, but each page must be exposed separately, and the glow is not long-lasting. Children may need instruction beyond the book’s “turn off the lights to see what glows in the dark.” For the U.S. version of this French import, some European species have been replaced by more-familiar North American ones (the barred owl for the tawny owl, for example), and the text has been recast to include North American details. This makes these scenes a curious conglomeration but no less interesting for it.
Attention-grabbing if not truly glowing. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5319-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet as honey.
Learn about the importance of keystone species in this buzzworthy book.
Honeybees are an important species—but how many people know just how important? Readers will after reading this bee-dazzling book that explains their essential role in the food chain. Three beekeepers (a White adult and two children, one Black and one White) are inspecting their beehives and discover a potential case of colony collapse disorder, a relatively new phenomenon in which an entire colony of bees dies off quickly. The book then delves into the logical events that would follow if all honeybee colonies collapsed, showing how many species—plant and animal, including humans—would be adversely affected. Each double-page spread presents one or two small paragraphs explaining the links in the chain of consequences in moderately simple language. The text is supported by lush cartoon illustrations that will pull in readers with each new page. The book ends with a brief glossary, suggestions for starting honeybee-related conversations at home and with friends, and a full-page bibliography for readers who have been stung with curiosity. It’s a fun and engaging read for nonfiction fans and will also pull double duty during science project festivals, as the resources and information will be invaluable for projects on ecology, animal husbandry, or food webs. An added bonus for beekeepers is that all three humans are observing sensible beekeeping practices as they work. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Sweet as honey. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23245-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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