An odd assortment designed for entertainment over education.
While fish are similar in having fins, gills, tails, and usually scales, in other ways they can be surprising.
Shumaker’s debut picture book introduces a variety of unusual fish grouped into 18 different examples of intriguing appearances or behaviors. She introduces her categories page by page, with single lines of rhyming couplets in a large, legible type: “Some fish dance and some play dead. / One fish sports a see-through head!” The groupings seem arbitrary, as is often the case for collections of curiosities, but the facts are certainly interesting and generally accurate. The page designs vary widely. Some spreads are filled with cheerful cartoons full of different fish species. Other pages feature a single fish, sometimes with further details and labels in a smaller font. These fish have googly eyes and expressive faces but are reasonably recognizable in appearance. Many pages include a box with further facts—but not always the same kinds of facts. Beyond the species name, there might be observations, field notes, or a relevant question. Most fish also have a “freakiness” or “funkiness” rating displayed, as if that, too, were a fact like its interesting behavior or location. Three pages of backmatter give more information about fish that zap, sting, sing, and so on. Pair with Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig’s Do Jellyfish Like Peanut Butter?, illustrated by Ellen Shi (2020), for more marine fun.
An odd assortment designed for entertainment over education. (further learning, selected sources) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6884-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle.
Through many types of weather and the different seasons, water tells readers about its many forms.
“Sometimes I’m the rain cloud / and sometimes I’m the rain.” Water can make rainbows and can appear to be different colors. Water is a waterfall, a wave, an ocean swell, a frozen pond, the snow on your nose, a cloud, frost, a comet, a part of you. Throughout, Paterson’s rhyming verses evoke images of their own: “Soon the summer sun is back / and warms me with its rays. / I rise in rumbling thunderheads / like castles in the haze,” though at times word order seems to have been chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (“In fall I sink into a fog / and blanket chilly fields, / with pumpkins touched by morning frost / the harvest season yields”). Backmatter includes a diagram of the water cycle that introduces and describes each step with solid vocabulary, including “Collection” as a step in the process; “The Science Behind the Poetry,” which unpacks some of the poetic language and phrases; some water activities and explorations; conservation tips; and a list of other books from the publisher about water. Paterson’s full- and double-page–spread illustrations are just as magical as his verse, showing water in its many forms from afar and close up. Few people appear on his pages, but the vast majority of those are people of color.
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-615-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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