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CHILDREN'S ANIMAL ATLAS

Pedagogically useful in multiple ways, though not suitable for school or public library shelves.

Sheets of stickers and big, simple maps of each continent invite young naturalists to study dozens of animals, both common and endangered, in their natural environments.

Each of the 13 maps is colored to indicate biomes, features (where appropriate) country names and borders along with brief nature notes around the edges, and is lightly decorated with small, stylized, labeled images of major landforms and select wildlife. Many of the animals have dashes around them, which indicates that there is a matching sticker for each on one of the enclosed sheets (there is one sheet of less localized “general stickers” too). The attached envelope also contains a small folded world map that highlights eight biomes, a sheet of postcards with preprinted fill-in-the-blank messages, and a booklet with quiz questions that test animal recognition and map-reading skills as well as covering facts presented in the notes. Young readers persuaded to pore over the maps and use the stickers (at least as they are intended) will come away with a broader understanding of general geography as well as both animal and environmental diversity.

Pedagogically useful in multiple ways, though not suitable for school or public library shelves. (index) (Informational novelty. 5-7)

Pub Date: April 19, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-68297-341-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: QEB Publishing

Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018

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SOMETHING'S FISHY

An ideal lead-in to more specific guides to aquarium setup and fish care.

A first introduction to our planet’s finny residents, particularly the decidedly uncommon goldfish.

Preceded by an entire piscatorial ABC that extends over six pages, two children of color lecture an audience of house pets (and readers) about such typical fishy features as scales and gills—properly noting that some fish, like certain eels, have no scales and some, like hagfish, no bony spines. The two then zero in on goldfish, explaining that they are easier to keep at home than tropical fish, originated long ago in China, can recognize the faces of people who bring them food, and with proper care live 25 years. All of this information is presented in a mix of dialogue balloons and single lines of commentary in block letters, accompanying cleanly drawn cartoon illustrations that alternate between a domestic setting and labeled portraits of various fish rendered in fine, exact detail. With easily digestible doses of biological and historical background, common-sense cautionary notes, and a buoyant tone, this is an appealing dive for newly independent readers out to enhance the household menagerie.

An ideal lead-in to more specific guides to aquarium setup and fish care. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: April 4, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943145-15-7

Page Count: 40

Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics

Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017

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WOLF PUPS JOIN THE PACK

From the First Discoveries series

A bland also-ran trailing a large litter of like-themed pups.

A photo album of young wolves running, playing, and growing through their first year.

Light on factual details, the uncredited text largely runs to vague observations along the lines of the fact that “young wolves need to rest every now and then” or that packs “differ in size. Some are large and have many wolves, while others are small with only a few.” The chief draws here are the big, color, stock photos, which show pups of diverse ages and species, singly or in groups—running, posing alertly with parents or other adult wolves, eating (regurgitated food only, and that not visible), howling, patrolling, and snoozing as a seasonal round turns green meadows to snowy landscapes. In a notably perfunctory insertion squeezed onto the final spread, a wildlife biologist from the American Museum of Natural History introduces himself and describes his research work—all with animals other than wolves. Budding naturalists should have no trouble running down more nourishing fare, from Seymour Simon’s Wolves (1993) to Jonathan London’s Seasons of Little Wolf (illustrated by Jon Van Zyle, 2014) and on. Baby Dolphin’s First Swim follows the same formula even down to profiling exactly the same wildlife biologist.

A bland also-ran trailing a large litter of like-themed pups. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Pub Date: June 6, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-4549-2237-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Sterling

Review Posted Online: April 25, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017

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