Giants of the Ice Age, the woolly mammoths roamed the ice-covered steppes 26,000 years ago, while their lesser-known and larger cousins, the Columbian mammoths, wandered the warmer regions of the southern US and Mexico. Arnold, author of Did You Hear That? (2001) and many other science titles, describes the Elephantidae family tree, including modern-day elephants, mammoths, mastodons, and even dwarf mammoths and discusses fossil remains found in bogs, lakes, and tar pits as well as fully preserved specimens found in the permafrost of Siberia and Alaska. Recent findings are included, too, for instance, the recovering of Jarkov’s mammoth by French explorer Bernard Buigues in 1997 and the recovery of “Baby Dima,” a young woolly mammoth calf discovered by goldminers in Siberia in 1977. From fossil findings, Arnold postulates what the animals looked like and how they lived and died. The text gets technical at times, as when she discusses how radioactive carbon dating works. Or when she explains that the American mastodon is part of a group known as the gomphotheres, and while several different kinds of gomphotheres lived in South America, they were the only proboscideans to have lived on the continent. Watercolor illustrations are most successful in showing animals like the shaggy, woolly mammoth where there are well-preserved models. Reconstructions of animals known only from bones are less convincing. For example, the Columbian mammoth looks like Dumbo with a few prickly hairs stuck on, and the pudgy sabertooth cat seems an unconvincing predator. The picture-book format may appeal to science readers too young to access the text, so there’s something for everyone. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2002
ISBN: 0-618-09633-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An exciting and thoughtful portrait inspired by a real animal who succeeded by being different.
A wolf cub charts his own path to pack leadership.
In this novel based on the life of a real wolf who was brought to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 as part of a conservation project, a young cub named Warm reckons with not being the biggest, strongest, or loudest at howling among his littermates. When an attack by another pack leaves him to care for a set of younger siblings—Leap, Snap, Quiver, and Yowl—Warm struggles to keep the cubs alive despite never having made a killing blow of his own. Even as his survival skills are tested, Warm develops a uniquely compassionate outlook that helps him navigate the recombination of packs and other dangers. Parry’s short sentences create a quickly moving story with deep emotional currents. The immediacy of Warm’s first-person voice and the abundant sensory descriptions pull readers right into the animals’ world, though the large cast of wolves can be difficult to keep track of. Armiño’s numerous, beautifully detailed black-and-white illustrations add ample emotion and dynamic movement. Environmentally conscious readers, animal lovers, and those with a taste for nonfiction will be thrilled by the extensive backmatter, which includes a darling hand-drawn map of Warm’s journey as well as photos and abundant information on wolf biology, recovery efforts, and the ecology of the American West.
An exciting and thoughtful portrait inspired by a real animal who succeeded by being different. (author’s note, resources) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9780063415133
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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