Bursting with verdure and pollinators, a gentle love letter to late bloomers emphasizing the beauty of biodiversity.
A seedling flourishes in her own time, with some loving support along the way.
Teckentrup’s newest picture book details the tranquil story of a misfit plant finding her path to the sunlight. Straightforward, lilting text describes a little plant’s growth from delicate seedling to “the happiest summer plant there could be” after winding her way through the “tall and straight” spring and summer undergrowth of a northern temperate meadow, helped along by a loving community of insects and field mice. Under the patient care and encouragement of Ant and Ladybird, the shoot is encouraged, twining in and out amid the other plants, while allowed to grow in her own time, and her own way, until she is “full of love and life.” The author’s richly textured, luminous illustrations draw on seasonal color palettes and varying compositions to carry readers through the life cycle of the unspeaking protagonist. Lightly stylized to suggest cut-paper collage, the semirealistic depictions of butterflies, bees, and songbirds are recognizable while remaining poetic. A sweet ode to taking one’s time to find the right place to blossom, the story comes to its zenith with a warm, vertical double-page spread showing the no-longer-little plant in full bloom, fluttering with life and glowing under a hazy, late-summer sun.
Bursting with verdure and pollinators, a gentle love letter to late bloomers emphasizing the beauty of biodiversity. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-3-7913-7429-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Prestel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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 lyrical and educational look at the water cycle.
Through many types of weather and the different seasons, water tells readers about its many forms.
“Sometimes I’m the rain cloud / and sometimes I’m the rain.” Water can make rainbows and can appear to be different colors. Water is a waterfall, a wave, an ocean swell, a frozen pond, the snow on your nose, a cloud, frost, a comet, a part of you. Throughout, Paterson’s rhyming verses evoke images of their own: “Soon the summer sun is back / and warms me with its rays. / I rise in rumbling thunderheads / like castles in the haze,” though at times word order seems to have been chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (“In fall I sink into a fog / and blanket chilly fields, / with pumpkins touched by morning frost / the harvest season yields”). Backmatter includes a diagram of the water cycle that introduces and describes each step with solid vocabulary, including “Collection” as a step in the process; “The Science Behind the Poetry,” which unpacks some of the poetic language and phrases; some water activities and explorations; conservation tips; and a list of other books from the publisher about water. Paterson’s full- and double-page–spread illustrations are just as magical as his verse, showing water in its many forms from afar and close up. Few people appear on his pages, but the vast majority of those are people of color.
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-615-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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