Get ready for Megalodon, the big-tooth, prehistoric shark that grew longer than a school bus, and downed horse-size animals in a single gulp. A good thing it became extinct about two million years ago. The author of many science titles for children will have no trouble finding an audience for this crowd-pleaser. The dramatic text embellishes what little is known about the shark from fossil remains, and then extrapolates from living relatives like the Great White Shark to tell the rest of the story. Scientists have found some vertebra as well as numerous enormous teeth, and based on these findings have constructed models of Megalodon. Since soft parts and most cartilage decay without becoming fossilized, much of the reconstruction is speculation. Topics are discussed in two-page displays, for example: Ancient and Modern Sharks, Megalodon's World, Inside Megalodon, A Megalodon Skeleton, Lost Teeth, Replaceable Teeth, and Megalodon Babies. Discussing babies seems a gigantic reach, given how little evidence exists. Throughout, the teeth are a big part of the story. Sharks have more than a thousand teeth, and “They pop up into place as if they were on a conveyer belt. No matter how many teeth a shark loses, it is always prepared for its next meal.” The illustrator paints a toothy monster, which stretches from front to back cover, making him appropriately fearsome. Gleaming-white, saw-edged teeth stand out against the pink jaws and blue-gray watery world. Inside there are several impressive close-up views of the cavernous mouth and enormous teeth. Often the shark swims straight at the viewer for maximum impact. While the illustrations of people studying fossils are somewhat wooden, the artist seems comfortable with portraying the underwater world of ancient giants. Good stuff. (index) (Nonfiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2000
ISBN: 0-395-91419-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is a rare book: joyful, ingenuous, playfully earnest, but without a whiff of studied cuteness.
Giraffe, bored and looking for a friend, becomes pen pals with Penguin in this illustrated chapter book.
Even though Giraffe has nice weather and plenty to eat in his home in Africa, he is bored because he doesn’t have “an extra special friend.” A notice from an also-bored pelican offering “to deliver anything anywhere” spurs Giraffe to write a letter introducing himself (“I’m famous for my long neck”), and he asks Pelican to deliver it to the first animal he meets on the “other side of the horizon.” After a long flight, Pelican sees Seal. Seal delivers the letter to Penguin, since Penguin is “the only animal…who got letters….Most were from his girlfriend.” This original, playful story unfolds with perfect pacing as Giraffe and Penguin start a pen-pal correspondence. (Penguin, not sure what a neck is, writes back: “I think maybe I don’t have a neck. Or maybe I am all neck?”) Giraffe and Pelican, reading Penguin’s letters describing himself, are just as confused about what Penguin looks like. Hilarious deductive reasoning ensues. Young readers will love the silliness. Older readers (including adults) will relax in this gentle, judgment-free world of curiosity and discovery. Takabatake’s fresh, unaffected line illustrations create a seamless collaboration of art and words.
This is a rare book: joyful, ingenuous, playfully earnest, but without a whiff of studied cuteness. (Fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-9272-7188-9
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Gecko Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
A humorous story about an unusual pet. Rufus has but one wish—a dog. His stay-at-home Dad does not agree. His list of reasons not to get a dog extends over two pages. Rufus’s sympathetic mom brings home a guinea pig, which Rufus has expressly said he does not want. To his surprise, though, the guinea pig (which he sullenly names Fido) behaves like a dog! She obeys every command Rufus gives her, plays tug-o’-war and even chews shoes. His best friend wishes she were his when, during a Frisbee game, out of nowhere, she retrieves the disc and brings it to Rufus. The family decides to return Fido to the pet store, but a classmate is willing to buy her to replace her hamster—and it’s then that Rufus begins to have second thoughts. Jennings provides no explanation as to why Fido acts like a dog, asking readers to accept the absurdity along with Rufus. The school characters are fairly one dimensional, but the undeniably funny plot moves along, and readers into beginning chapter books should enjoy this wry story of wish fulfillment. (Animal fantasy. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-60684-053-5
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Egmont USA
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
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