Average visuals compared to other entries in the series and a formula that is plainly wearing thin.
The author of Animals That Make Me Say Ouch! (2014), …Wow! (2014), and …Ewww! (2016) offers a fresh set of stock nature photographs on the general theme of animal defensive behaviors and features.
That theme feels like it’s only a pretext, and she drops it halfway through anyway. In the first part, headed “Look out for animals on the defense,” she gathers views of wild creatures—predators and prey alike—flashing teeth or tusks, rearing up in aggressive threat displays, charging, playing dead, tussling, hiding, and using camouflage, venom, or skin poison. In the second, unrelated, section, she urges readers to “Look out for ways to protect animals.” Instead of offering any real concrete “ways,” however, she just identifies several dozen kinds of animals whose populations are declining from assorted hazards such as habitat loss or competition from invasive species. Some of the larger photos, at least—a drooling Florida panther, a crocodile lunging out of the water with jaws gaping, burrowing owls lined up alertly like avian meerkats, a tree frog hanging by one toe—rise above the ordinary. While casual readers will find the simply phrased descriptions and explanations next to the pictures easily digestible, a closing set of activities will give budding naturalists some healthy challenges.
Average visuals compared to other entries in the series and a formula that is plainly wearing thin. (index, glossary) (Nonfiction. 7-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62354-080-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Imagine Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An excellent choice for nature-loving elementary readers.
Footprints show the impact of human actions on Earth in this eco-friendly nonfiction picture book.
Swanson’s simple text, accompanied by clear, detailed photography, highlights the many different sizes and shapes of footprints. A photo of an elephant’s large prints shows a child leaping from one to the next alongside a photograph of the animals walking. Small footprints of insects and other animals are shown before the work showcases a diverse array of human footwear. Footprints “capture adventures at the greatest heights,” the book notes, showing paths on mountains and on the moon. The text moves on to metaphorical footprints, suggesting that young activists follow in the steps of historical changemakers, then briefly addresses digital and carbon footprints, further explained in notes at the back. Swanson’s accessible text is tailored to emergent readers, with few pages featuring more than one sentence; most passages stretch over multiple pages. The metaphorical footprints are likely to require adult discussion about what it means to leave behind traces of one’s actions. The selection of uncredited photos is excellent, with images from history and nature that are well suited to each idea; Rosa Parks and Greta Thunberg are among the changemakers featured. The text doesn’t name many of them, though, which will leave readers who don’t recognize them at a loss.
An excellent choice for nature-loving elementary readers.Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4788-7603-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Reycraft Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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