Lovers of animals and of animal art alike will pore over both this showcase and its companion.
A detail-obsessed illustrator’s “love letter” to Earth’s wild fauna.
Though the art’s the thing in this outsized album, Rothery supplies relatively copious descriptive and behavioral notes about dozens of meticulously depicted creatures (nearly all, from mosquito to elephant, land dwellers) plus a gallery of feathers and a complex schematic view of an African savanna food web. He also organizes many of his portraits thematically to highlight “hidden” features or relationships, such as camouflage strategies or examples of convergent evolution. Still, rather than straining to be systematic he is plainly following his own interests in choosing subjects—and his instincts are sure ones, as nearly every page turn brings images into view that are at the least always technically accomplished…and very often riveting. These latter include a tiny hermit crab cozily tucked not into a shell but a plastic squeeze-bottle cap, a probably life-size (!) Komodo dragon head, and a tightly bunched herd of zebras filling a full spread to demonstrate how their stripes create a predator-confusing “motion dazzle.” In an aptly named companion volume the artist presents arrays of Sensational Butterflies in, often, larger-than-life glory, with close-ups of significant body parts, range maps and life-cycle charts, and chapters on both moths and the strange, in-between Hedylidae family, also known as “moth-butterflies." Measurements in both of these British imports are metric; a guide to conversions can be found on the copyright page.
Lovers of animals and of animal art alike will pore over both this showcase and its companion. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-13)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-88448-875-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)
Babies and engineers have more in common than you think.
In this book, Alexander highlights the unlikely similarities between babies and engineers. Like engineers, babies ask questions, enjoy building, and learn from their mistakes. Black’s bold, colorful illustrations feature diverse babies and both male- and female-presenting adult characters with a variety of skin tones and hair colors, effectively demonstrating that engineers can be any race or either gender. (Nonbinary models are a little harder to see.) The story ends with a reassurance to the babies in the book that “We believe in you!” presumably implying that any child can be an engineer. The end pages include facts about different kinds of engineers and the basic process used by all engineers in their work. Although the book opens with a rhythmic rhyming couplet, the remaining text lacks the same structure and pattern, making it less entertaining to read. Furthermore, while some of the comparisons between babies and engineers are both clever and apt, others—such as the idea that babies know where to look for answers—are flimsier. The book ends with a text-heavy spread of facts about engineering that, bereft of illustrations, may not hold children’s attention as well as the previous pages. Despite these flaws, on its best pages, the book is visually stimulating, witty, and thoughtful.
A book about engineering notable mostly for its illustrations of diverse characters. (Board book. 1-3)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-31223-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Cartwheel/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude.
A deceptively simple, visually appealing, comprehensive explanation of volcanoes.
Gibbons packs an impressive number of facts into this browsable nonfiction picture book. The text begins with the awe of a volcanic eruption: “The ground begins to rumble…ash, hot lava and rock, and gases shoot up into the air.” Diagrams of the Earth’s structural layers—inner and outer core, mantle, and crust—undergird a discussion about why volcanoes occur. Simple maps of the Earth’s seven major tectonic plates show where volcanoes are likeliest to develop. Other spreads with bright, clearly labeled illustrations cover intriguing subtopics: four types of volcanoes and how they erupt; underwater volcanoes; well-known volcanoes and historic volcanic eruptions around the world; how to be safe in the vicinity of a volcano; and the work of scientists studying volcanoes and helping to predict eruptions. A page of eight facts about volcanoes wraps things up. The straightforward, concise prose will be easy for young readers to follow. As always, Gibbons manages to present a great deal of information in a compact form.
Erupt into applause for this picture book of the first magma-tude. (Nonfiction picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4569-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2021
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