Fast facts about physical characteristics and behavior, close-up photographs and a running glossary make up this introduction to reptiles. Part of the Kingfisher Young Knowledge series, this is a collection of strikingly illustrated infobits, pictures and details with no context. With lively design and a full page index, it has the appearance of an informational book but not the substance. The reader learns fragments: A chameleon can move each eye on its own; the jaws of alligator snapping turtles have sharp edges. Are these the only reptiles with these characteristics? What else distinguishes this species? How does the author know? There is no bibliography, and the only acknowledgements are to the pictured child models. The book concludes with instructions for four related craft activities, which could be a useful supplement to class studies, requiring art materials not usually available in the home. The toothy crocodile (or alligator?) on the cover will draw readers in, but they will have to go elsewhere for real learning. (Nonfiction. 6-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2006
ISBN: 0-7534-5982-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it’s his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte’s Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family—which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: “Never fall asleep in a shoe.”)—and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, “just like me and Fly,” if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-06-000153-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Joanna Cotler/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2005
Rylant (Henry and Mudge and the Sneaky Crackers, 1998, etc.) slips into a sentimental mode for this latest outing of the boy and his dog, as she sends Mudge and Henry and his parents off on a camping trip. Each character is attended to, each personality sketched in a few brief words: Henry's mother is the camping veteran with outdoor savvy; Henry's father doesn't know a tent stake from a marshmallow fork, but he's got a guitar for campfire entertainment; and the principals are their usual ready-for-fun selves. There are sappy moments, e.g., after an evening of star- gazing, Rylant sends the family off to bed with: ``Everyone slept safe and sound and there were no bears, no scares. Just the clean smell of trees . . . and wonderful green dreams.'' With its nice tempo, the story is as toasty as its campfire and swaddled in Stevenson's trusty artwork. (Fiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-81175-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1998
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