An eye-opener, though the readiest audience probably already loves them.
In her latest animal survey, Barr focuses on select wild residents of six habitats threatened by climate change or other human misuse.
The tally begins and ends with elephants but encompasses creatures including puffins, penguins, blue whales, and Bengal tigers. The number included exceeds the 50 singled out for empathy-building observations such as “Giraffes give birth standing up, so their babies start life with a bump as they fall to the ground!” or “Octopuses…solve problems, use tools and, if bored, they play!” Introductory paragraphs on, mostly, the perilous state of each habitat (“Around the world oceans are polluted—awash with plastic”) supplement the titular 50 reasons, and the author tucks in frequent suggestions for low-effort ways young activists can show concern. As in 10 Reasons To Love a Bear (2018) and its predecessors, the smiling, googly-eyed animals in Clulow’s comfortably spacious natural scenes require some getting used to, and some scenes are overlabeled (do readers really need captions for “ice” or “lake”?). Still, the creatures and settings are easily recognizable, and the message is delivered clearly but without the scary urgency of the author’s Red Alert! Endangered Animals Around the World, illustrated by Anne Wilson (2018).
An eye-opener, though the readiest audience probably already loves them. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5246-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
A winning heads up for younger readers just becoming aware of the wider natural world.
An appeal to share concern for 12 familiar but threatened, endangered, or critically endangered animal species.
The subjects of Marino’s intimate, close-up portraits—fairly naturalistically rendered, though most are also smiling, glancing up at viewers through human eyes, and posed at rest with a cute youngling on lap or flank—steal the show. Still, Clinton’s accompanying tally of facts about each one’s habitat and daily routines, to which the title serves as an ongoing refrain, adds refreshingly unsentimental notes: “A single giraffe kick can kill a lion!”; “[S]hivers of whale sharks can sense a drop of blood if it’s in the water nearby, though they eat mainly plankton.” Along with tucking in collective nouns for each animal (some not likely to be found in major, or any, dictionaries: an “embarrassment” of giant pandas?), the author systematically cites geographical range, endangered status, and assumed reasons for that status, such as pollution, poaching, or environmental change. She also explains the specific meaning of “endangered” and some of its causes before closing with a set of doable activities (all uncontroversial aside from the suggestion to support and visit zoos) and a list of international animal days to celebrate.
A winning heads up for younger readers just becoming aware of the wider natural world. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-525-51432-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Just the ticket for an armchair outing to the red planet.
Good news! Planet Marvelous is looking forward to visitors from Planet Awesome.
With the same exuberance that propelled readers deep into her Ocean! Waves for All (2020), illustrated by David Litchfield, and its three predecessors in the Our Universe series, McAnulty looks to the next planet out for a fresh set of enticing natural wonders. Billing itself a “party planet” (“I want to be the FIRST planet with human guests”), the russet raconteur trumpets its unique attractions. These range from moons Deimos and Phobos (“I know Earth is totally jealous”) to Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris, which is “four times as deep as the Grand Canyon! And not nearly as crowded.” Sure, unlike Spirit, Opportunity, and other rovers, human visitors will have to pack their own water and oxygen in addition to traveling millions of miles…but given a few technological advances, soon enough it’ll be time to “get this party started!” Prospective tourists diverse of age and race are dancing already on Earth in a final scene in anticipation of a trip to our “reMARkable” neighbor. Quiz questions and a timeline cap an enticement that echoes Susanna Leonard Hill’s Mars’ First Friends: Come on Over, Rovers! (2020), illustrated by Elisa Paganelli, in its fizzy mix of fact and fancy. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 75% of actual size.)
Just the ticket for an armchair outing to the red planet. (sources) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-25688-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
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