This arresting long-distance tale of animal devotion will captivate readers, especially bird lovers.
Munro draws from actual events for this story of Katerina and Luka, a monogamous stork couple whose bond endures even the harshest setback.
During the birds’ southward migration, Katerina is shot down over a village. A farmer and a little girl rescue her, bring her home, and nurse her back to health. Her mate remains nearby, afraid to approach, but eventually comes to her. Katerina, unable to fly, urges Luka to leave before winter. He returns late the next spring. They have three chicks together, and before Luka leaves again, he promises to return early next spring with their children, “when the magnolias bloom.” The real story, recounted in the author’s note, is somewhat different but still focuses on the couple’s fidelity. Munro explains that a bird named Malena was shot while traveling from Croatia to South Africa, 8,000 miles away; a villager cared for her and built her a nest on the roof of his house. A male stork, Klepetan, noticed Malena, and the two formed a relationship. Klepetan would migrate but return to her each spring, year after year. Livestreamed video kept the world apprised of their activities. Narrated by Katerina, the story is both immediate and tender, ideal for individual and group sharing. The large white birds with orange beaks swoop gracefully across green fields in attractive naïve-style illustrations rendered in chalk pastel, colored pencil, and digital pencil.
This arresting long-distance tale of animal devotion will captivate readers, especially bird lovers. (information on the other birds mentioned in the story) (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781662651212
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Minerva/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
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
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children.
Social-equity themes are presented to children in ABC format.
Terms related to intersectional inequality, such as “class,” “gender,” “privilege,” “oppression,” “race,” and “sex,” as well as other topics important to social justice such as “feminism,” “human being,” “immigration,” “justice,” “kindness,” “multicultural,” “transgender,” “understanding,” and “value” are named and explained. There are 26 in all, one for each letter of the alphabet. Colorful two-page spreads with kid-friendly illustrations present each term. First the term is described: “Belief is when you are confident something exists even if you can’t see it. Lots of different beliefs fill the world, and no single belief is right for everyone.” On the facing page it concludes: “B is for BELIEF / Everyone has different beliefs.” It is hard to see who the intended audience for this little board book is. Babies and toddlers are busy learning the names for their body parts, familiar objects around them, and perhaps some basic feelings like happy, hungry, and sad; slightly older preschoolers will probably be bewildered by explanations such as: “A value is an expression of how to live a belief. A value can serve as a guide for how you behave around other human beings. / V is for VALUE / Live your beliefs out loud.”
Adults will do better skipping the book and talking with their children. (Board book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-78603-742-8
Page Count: 52
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
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