A great addition to the visual-literacy library for young children.
In this revised edition of one book in a series entitled How Artists See, Carroll has selected an eclectic collection of 23 paintings, sculptures, and artifacts by artists ancient and modern from many different cultures.
Each artwork is depicted on one page or a double-page spread, frequently alongside a detail from the larger work. The book presents depictions of animals by varied artists: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, Albrecht Dürer, Kishi Ganku, Robert Bateman, Henri Matisse, Roy Liechtenstein, Alexander Calder, Frank Gehry, John James Audubon, Tamás Galambos, Georgia O’Keeffe, Ana Maria Pacheco, Simon Stålenhag, Audrey Weber, Crisp, Georges De Groot, and Marie Sybilla Merian as well as art from cave paintings in France, a mosaic from Pompeii, an ancient Greek coin, a Chiriquí frog pendant, and a Kuba carved wood crocodile. Carroll’s prose is simple but lively: engaging, questioning, sometimes humorous, often invoking sensory responses. As she remarks in a closing note, “The questions…are open-ended, with no right or wrong answers—they are meant to encourage children to look critically and ask thought-provoking questions of their own.” This book would provide an excellent jumping-off point for a teacher or parent to encourage children to engage with art, to spark creativity, and to build visual-literacy skills. Biographical notes and resources for each artist appear in the backmatter. Companion title How Artists See Families publishes simultaneously.
A great addition to the visual-literacy library for young children. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7892-1348-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abbeville Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.
In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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