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LIGHTS ON!

Name: LIGHTS ON!
Author: Donna B. McKinney
ISBN: 978-1-953458-47-6

GLOW-IN-THE-DARK DEEP OCEAN CREATURES

by Donna B. McKinney ; illustrated by Daniella Ferretti ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2023

Illuminating, if only fitfully, and hampered by problematic design choices.

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A gallery of luminescent ocean creatures, from tiny fireworms to toothy viperfish.

Strong on atmosphere (if not strict scientific accuracy), this book takes readers down where “sunlight cannot reach, / it’s so dark / and always night” to introduce the “quite peaceful” vampire squid and other creatures and briefly explain how they use the “superpower” of bioluminescence to defend against predators or to attract prey or mates. Ferretti gives her not-to-scale painted portraits an eerie shine by suspending them against black backgrounds but leaves too much of the daytime sky at the tops of most of the sideways, full spread scenes to give viewers a proper sense of oceanic depths—and in a nighttime setting, it’s unclear whether the tiny lights speckling the water’s smooth surface are supposed to represent plankton or reflected stars. (In either case, the author’s accompanying line, “At the ocean’s surface, all is darkness,” is flatly contradictory.) Flimsy flaps glued to select spreads do add an interactive element but are by and large superfluous; most reveal additional art or details when lifted but never hide more than part of the printed text and won’t be missed if (when) repeated flexing makes them fall off. Lisa Regan’s Glow Down Deep (2020) will do a more effective job of lighting up reader interest in the spooky and strange residents of this pelagic realm. There are no human figures.

Illuminating, if only fitfully, and hampered by problematic design choices. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: March 14, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-953458-47-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Yeehoo Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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WHAT IF YOU HAD AN ANIMAL HOME!?

From the What if You Had . . .? series

by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Howard McWilliam ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2024

Another playful imagination-stretcher.

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Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.

As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.

Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: May 7, 2024

ISBN: 9781339049052

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
THE GREAT NARWHAL RESCUE
by Sandra Markle

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CALL THE BEE DOCTOR!
by Sandra Markle

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COULD YOU EVER DINE WITH DINOSAURS!?
by Sandra Markle ; illustrated by Vanessa Morales

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BUTT OR FACE?

From the Butt or Face? series

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)