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 good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
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