In their historic journey across the Western US in 1804–06, explorers Lewis and Clark encountered and described 121 new species and subspecies of vertebrate animals, including birds, bears, deer, snakes, prairie dogs, coyotes, fish, and wolves. Patent reconstructs the expedition from its beginning in St. Louis, Missouri, to Camp Disappointment, Washington, and back again, using quotes from the journals and from the pair themselves to describe animals encountered along the way. Unfortunately, neither Lewis nor Clark was a trained naturalist and the observations lack a certain spark. For example: “I saw a black woodpecker (or crow) today, about the size of the lark woodpecker as black as a crow. I endeavored to get a shot at it but could not. It is a distinct species of woodpecker; it has a long tail and flies a good deal like the jay bird.” Fortunately, Patent’s (Saving the Prairie Bandit, not reviewed, etc.) own easy approach to the subject helps to draw the reader in providing a running commentary on the mistakes and successes of the team. Muñoz (Horses, not reviewed, etc.) adds photographs of the prairie, mountains, rivers, and some of the animals still to be found along the trail. The photographs are clear and colorful, helping to add accessibility. Patent provides two maps, further reading, and a chronology of all the animals discovered. This title is one of three about the Lewis & Clark expedition planned by the Patent and Muñoz team. Others are tentatively titled The Lewis and Clark Trail: Then and Now and Plants on the Trail with Lewis and Clark. Pair with Rhoda Blumberg’s The Incredible Journey of Lewis and Clark for a fuller picture of the journey. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 18, 2002
ISBN: 0-395-91415-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center.
Armed only with her magical sewing needle, foundling mouse Delphine sets out to confront the cruel rat king in this duology closer.
As vicious rat armies pillage the mouse realms in search of her and her pointy, long-hidden treasure, Delphine finds herself waging an inner war that parallels the outer one. According to dusty documents and other reputable sources, the needle’s good powers can be perverted, but she sees no other way except killing to stop evil rat King Midnight. While struggling with a grim determination to go over to the dark side that sets her at odds with her own fundamentally loving nature, Delphine threads her way along with loyal allies past various scrapes—only to come, climactically, face to face with not only her nemesis, but her own past. Moon stitches in flashbacks to fill out the details of a tragic old love triangle that reaches its fruition here and sews her tale up with a return to Château Desjardins just in time for Cinderella’s wedding and a celebratory rodentine ball in the chandelier overhead, and she leaves a fringe of epilogue hinting at further installments to come.
Less charming than the opener but does feature a thimbleful of moral quandary at its center. (secret codes) (Animal fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-368-04833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
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