A kiwi from New Zealand discovers how it differs from other birds in the world and what it shares with them.
Opie here demonstrates his skills as a wildlife illustrator, ably capturing the look of particular species in this grand collection that demonstrates bird similarities and differences. Over 100 different bird images appear in the backgrounds, placed amid blue skies, wispy clouds, and bits of vegetated ground. The first-time author/illustrator provides a straightforward text that simply but effectively gets his point across. All birds have feathers, wings, and beaks, but after that they can be astonishingly different. Spread after spread, he shows how they vary in coloration, shape and size, nests, eggs, feet, beaks, where they fly or swim, and sounds and songs. Some birds are shown flying; others perch, stand on the ground, wade in shallow water, or dive and swim. On many spreads, a stumpy little brown bird asks “What about me?” A final spread describes the kiwi in detail, including its eggs, burrows, hidden wings, and furlike feathers. Though flightless, it’s still part of the wide-ranging bird family. This attractive title includes many of the more-colorful species a North American child might encounter either in books or in their own experience. With the identifications that appear in the three pages of backmatter, it makes an ideal framework for a fledgling birder’s practice.
A simple but effective introduction to the “feathered family.” (author’s note, more about kiwis) (Informational picture book. 5-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4413-3329-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Peter Pauper Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS
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