Yes, a barrel of monkeys!
The team who produced Freaky, Funky Fish (2021) returns for a primer on primates.
Rhyming couplets provide rudimentary information on chimpanzees, gorillas, howler monkeys, and more. The minimal text—in a bold sans-serif font and with excellent scansion—will pull in reluctant readers and also make for a good read-aloud for the very young. The colorful artwork uses a winning combination of accurate details, sly humor, and expressive, comical facial expressions. On nearly every page, measurements, labels, and brief facts supplement the primary text. A page with the text, “One’s butt is splashed with colored streaks” will have viewers taking in the carefully diagrammed and labeled mandrill anatomy. The recto of this spread is simpler (“Some primates store food in their cheeks”), with one example each of a guenon, patas, mangabey, and macaque—each labeled accordingly—stuffing their faces with fruit. Each page includes a tongue-in-cheek “peculiarity” rating from one to 10. Unsurprisingly, the mandrill— with its side note of “male has a colorful butt to attract females”—scores a 10. Well-researched backmatter offers scientific observations and speculation about unusual appearances and behaviors, plus a few more facts about the highlighted families and about primates in general. The sole spread featuring humans depicts people with varied skin and hair types. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Yes, a barrel of monkeys! (resources for further learning, selected sources) (Informational picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7624-7820-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
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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