The large picture-book format, brief text, and many colorful eagle paintings, which appear in this modestly priced title, will attract young readers, but the text is choppy, imprecise, and dull. For example: “Eagles are big, powerful birds. They soar through the sky with their long wide wings. Eagles are birds of prey—birds who hunt for their food. All birds of prey have curved beaks and sharp claws.” In fact, all birds hunt for their food, unless they are caged birds. And many other kinds of birds have curved beaks and sharp claws. Elsewhere it indicates the Bald Eagle eats fish, and so they do; but they also eat rabbits, geese, snakes, and almost any dead animals they can find. In the section, “Eagles and People,” the author discusses the near decimation of eagles from hunting, poison, and lack of habitat, but does not mention the remarkable comeback of the eagle. Watercolor paintings, while handsome, are often too small or too fuzzy to provide sufficient detail. For example, in eagle-watching, the author indicates a Bald Eagle nest is found high in a tree, but the one pictured is the size of a rice grain. Elsewhere, the author notes the snake eagles have “short toes for gripping their thin prey.” Hard to tell when toes are the size of a pinhead. The author and illustrator briefly introduce a dozen species from around the world, give hints on eagle-watching, and a brief glossary and index. With a dozen fine eagle titles in print, including several at the easy-reading level, like Gail Gibbons’s Soar with the Wind, this is an additional purchase. (Nonfiction. 6-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-55074-715-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag.
Epistolary dispatches from the eternal canine/feline feud.
Simon the cat is angry. He had done a good job taking care of his boy, Andy, but now that Andy’s parents are divorced, a dog named Baxter has moved into Andy’s dad’s house. Simon believes that there isn’t enough room in Andy’s life for two furry friends, so he uses the power of the pen to get Baxter to move out. Inventively for the early-chapter-book format, the story is told in letters written back and forth; Simon’s are impeccably spelled on personalized stationery while Baxter’s spelling slowly improves through the letters he scrawls on scraps of paper. A few other animals make appearances—a puffy-lipped goldfish who for some reason punctuates her letter with “Blub…blub…” seems to be the only female character (cued through stereotypical use of eyelashes and red lipstick), and a mustachioed snail ferries the mail to and fro. White-appearing Andy is seen playing with both animals as a visual background to the text, as is his friend Noah (a dark-skinned child who perhaps should not be nicknamed “N Man”). Cat lovers will appreciate Simon’s prickliness while dog aficionados will likely enjoy Baxter’s obtuse enthusiasm, and all readers will learn about the time and patience it takes to overcome conflict and jealousy with someone you dislike.
An effective early chapter book conveyed in a slightly overdone gag. (Fiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 12, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4492-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Silly reads for new readers to dig into.
A turnip-loving duck and its friends defend their garden.
Alas, the duck, sheep, dog, and donkey immediately discover the eponymous pest in the garden when it (a groundhog?) eats a row of beans. The duck is frantic that turnips are next, but instead the pest eats the sheep’s favorite crop: corn. Peas occupy the next row, and the pest gobbles them up, too. Instead of despairing, however, the donkey cries, “Yippee! He ate ALL THE PEAS!” and catching the others’ puzzled looks, continues, “I don’t like peas.” After this humorous twist, the only uneaten row is sown with turnips, and the duck leaps to devour them before the pest can do so. In a satisfying, funny conclusion, the duck beams when the dog, sheep, and donkey resolve to plant a new garden and protect it with a fence, only to find out that it will exclude not just the groundhog, but the duck, too. A companion release, What Is Chasing Duck?, has the same brand of humor and boldly outlined figures rendered in a bright palette, but its storyline doesn’t come together as well since it’s unclear why the duck is scared and why the squirrel that was chasing it doesn’t recognize the others when they turn and chase him at book’s end.
Silly reads for new readers to dig into. (Early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-94165-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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