Wonderfully silly fun—but flawed.
A seahorse responds to the narrator’s school report on “an interesting animal.”
Young Cassandra’s report is hand-printed primary-grade–style in various angles on wide-lined paper and illustrated with pen, marker, and crayon. Even from the cover readers will recognize that the seahorse is highly offended. In his typed responses, pictured in thought balloons, readers see that he thinks of himself as “quite majestic,” nothing at all like a horse, an opossum with a prehensile tail, or a long-nosed anteater. There are more animal comparisons: Seahorses perform dances with their mates like blue-footed boobies, camouflage like octopuses, and growl like dogs. Finally readers get to what makes seahorses really different: “The DADDIES GIVE BIRTH!” The humor in this spread is especially appealing—the proud daddy’s pouch is depicted as a strapped-on tummy pack, and all his fry have names readers or their classmates might share. Finally, the writer explains why she likes seahorses. They’re “WEIRD,” and “BEING WEIRD IS COOL.” She concludes with a reminder of all the other animals mentioned and a last page of further facts. Following the author’s This Is a Sea Cow (2019), this is similarly engaging, but there’s a serious misstep: a glue-sniffing (or drinking?) duck-billed platypus illustrating “weird.” Better choices might be Jennifer Keats Curtis’ Seahorses, illustrated by Chad Wallace (2012), or Eric Carle’s Mister Seahorse (2004).
Wonderfully silly fun—but flawed. (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8075-7860-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Whitman
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An appealing introduction to a STEM trailblazer.
Self-taught naturalist Jeanne Power invented methods to study marine organisms, defying prejudice against women to become a respected scientist.
After she’d married and moved to Sicily, in the early 1800s, the French former seamstress began studying the natural world around her, documenting her observations and devising ways to observe underwater creatures. She constructed an aquarium and filled it with animals found by local fishermen. She followed the life cycle of a paper nautilus—a kind of octopus—proving they create their own shells. She became the first female member of the science academy in Sicily. Later, she joined other societies, publishing research papers and defending her work. Griffith has applied years of editing experience to his debut picture book, selecting a career highpoint for his smoothly told narrative and offering more substance for slightly older readers in backmatter, including a note on contradictions he found in his research. Sources agree that Power overcame what might have been a catastrophic setback, the loss of years of research in a shipwreck, but disagree on its date. Other sections of the exemplary backmatter include a more-complete overview of her life and additional information about both the paper nautilus and the fields of marine biology and conservation. Stone’s bright illustrations depict an all-White cast; they have the flavor of 20th-century animation, fitting the positive tone of the text. Pair with biographies of Eugenie Clark. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10.4-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 69.5% of actual size.)
An appealing introduction to a STEM trailblazer. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-358-24432-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Montgomery’s imagined story is informed by her extensive knowledge and rings true; sadly, the illustrations are less...
Inky the octopus escapes again.
The author of The Soul of an Octopus (2015, for adults) provides a picture-book example of octopus intelligence in this latest account of the escape of an octopus named Inky from the New Zealand National Aquarium. Her well-paced narrative begins with his hatching in the wild, from an egg “the size of a grain of rice.” The writer weaves in plenty of informational details about octopuses’ physical characteristics and habits while she spins the likely story of his injury (two tentacles partially bitten off by a moray eel), accidental capture, and subsequent life in a public aquarium. The smooth prose invites children’s appreciation for this remarkable species, which even enjoy playing with familiar toys. A reassuring endnote explains that the octopus was “probably very happy in his tank at the aquarium.” But, like readers and listeners, he was curious, “eager to discover what else is out there.” Colorful, digitally finished illustrations created using various paints, oil pastel, and collage give a reasonable impression of the octopus’s world, but Inky’s popping eyes lack the characteristic, usually rectangular slit, and he’s shown as female. A New Zealand street scene has cars driving on the wrong side of the road.
Montgomery’s imagined story is informed by her extensive knowledge and rings true; sadly, the illustrations are less convincing. Still, this is the most plausible of many recent iterations of this great escape. (endnote, fun facts, further resources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-0191-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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