Well crafted but of limited utility.
A child slowly blossoms into a writer.
Addressed by an adult’s second-person voice, “You,” a beige-skinned child with choppy black hair, in brown pants and a dark striped sweater, are trying to write a story. “You bring your heart and mind, your endless curiosity, and a deep longing to create, to write, to say something about the world—to tell a story.” Of course there’s writer’s block, distractions, and the grinding feeling of I-can’t-do-this, but after the child, still “you,” observes a chickadee patiently and painstakingly plucking individual seeds from a bird feeder, the idea of crafting a story one word at a time inspires the character to persevere. The didactic, inspirational, quiet tone makes this an appropriate choice for a teacher, librarian, or educator introducing a creative writing unit, but it’s not, sadly, an engaging tale for a wide audience of young readers. The bold use of you to refer to a very specific child, as well as a very particular kind of experience—a house with a bird feeder, snow outside, the desire to express oneself through writing—narrows rather than broadens the appeal, as some readers may bristle at being told untrue things about themselves. A page of prompts encouraging readers to write their own stories about a chickadee appears at the end along with a website about the bird. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Well crafted but of limited utility. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4491-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
A good overview of this complex, essential organ, with an energetic seasoning of silliness.
An introduction to the lead guitar and vocalist for the Brainiacs—the human brain.
The brain (familiar to readers of Seluk’s “The Awkward Yeti” webcomic, which spun off the adult title Heart and Brain, 2015) looks like a dodgeball with arms and legs—pinkish, sturdy, and roundish, with a pair of square-framed spectacles bestowing an air of importance and hipness. Other organs of the body—tongue, lungs, stomach, muscle, and heart—are featured as members of the brain’s rock band (the verso of the dust jacket is a poster of the band). Seluk’s breezy, conversational prose and brightly colored, boldly outlined cartoon illustrations deliver basic information. The brain’s role in keeping the heart beating and other automatic functions, directing body movements, interpreting sights and sounds, remembering smells and tastes, and regulating sleep and hunger are all explained, prose augmented by dialogue balloons and information sidebars. Seluk points out, importantly, that feelings originate in the brain: “You can control how you react…but your feelings happen no matter what.” The parodied album covers on the front endpapers (including the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Run DMC, Queen, Nirvana) will amuse parents—or at least grandparents—and the rear endpapers serve up band members’ clever social media and texting screenshots. Backmatter includes a glossary and further brain trivia but no resources or bibliography.
A good overview of this complex, essential organ, with an energetic seasoning of silliness. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-16700-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched.
An amiable introduction to our thrifty, sociable, teeming insect cousins.
Bunting notes that all the ants on Earth weigh roughly the same as all the people and observes that ants (like, supposedly, us) love recycling, helping others, and taking “micronaps.” They, too, live in groups, and their “superpower” is an ability to work together to accomplish amazing things. Bunting goes on to describe different sorts of ants within the colony (“Drone. Male. Does no housework. Takes to the sky. Reproduces. Drops dead”), how they communicate using pheromones, and how they get from egg to adult. He concludes that we could learn a lot from them that would help us leave our planet in better shape than it was when we arrived. If he takes a pass on mentioning a few less positive shared traits (such as our tendency to wage war on one another), still, his comparisons do invite young readers to observe the natural world more closely and to reflect on our connections to it. In the simple illustrations, generic black ants look up at viewers with little googly eyes while scurrying about the pages gathering food, keeping nests clean, and carrying outsized burdens.
Lighthearted and informative, though the premise may be a bit stretched. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567784
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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