Readers will join the chorus of grateful herbivores in proclaiming that Edna is “awesome.” (Picture book. 6-8)
T. rex meets his match. Actually, he never has a chance.
Roaring to the forest at large that he’s after his breakfast, Tyrannosaurus sends Ankylosaurus, Parasaurolophus, and the rest of the heavily armored dinos fleeing in panic. But not Edna, who looks like a garden-variety white barnyard chicken with enormous, long-lashed eyes and a perky beak. She stands firm, responding defiantly to his blustering “I am big and fierce and you should be afraid of me,” with a firm “I am small and brave and you should be afraid of me.” And indeed, when he snaps her up what she does inside his mouth with her “pointy claws” and “many feathers” leaves him a sneezing, pathetic wreck: “I am Ahanasawus Ex….I am ing of e orest.” With a severe “CLUCK!” she chases him away, never to be seen again—and that, children, “is why today there are no Tyrannosaurus Rexes but plenty of chickens.” Using warm tones and pastels to illustrate this altogether reasonable theory (though the author discounts it in his afterword), Henry’s amusing prehistoric scenes feature a variety of recognizable dinos (all save Edna sans feathers) with anthropomorphic expressions.
Readers will join the chorus of grateful herbivores in proclaiming that Edna is “awesome.” (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62779-510-4
Page Count: 42
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Based on a true incident, this tale of an orphaned baby rhinoceros that beats the odds by surviving will not only move readers, but also will serve as a heads-up that poaching has brought rhinos to the edge of extinction. When “sudden loud bursts” shatter the night’s peace, Jubela’s mother runs far and fast, but finally collapses lifeless. In a scene of infinite sadness, Jubela, confused and helpless, stands near her body until hunger and the scent of man forces him away. Just as his strength is about to give out completely, another rhino appears, a large old female who adopts him, teaches him how to find food and water, and lingers protectively nearby until he is grown enough to be independent. With strongly atmospheric dry pastels, Stammen (If You Were Born a Kitten, 1997, etc.) captures the Swaziland plains simmering beneath a blazing sun or wrapped in evening’s cool darkness; wildlife—the rhinos especially—are viewed from a low angle, giving them a monumental solidity. Though author and illustrator steer clear of anthropomorphism (“Jubela” is the name given the young rhino by game park rangers), the parent-child attachment, and the anxiety of facing a wide world without adult protection, comes through clearly. (afterword) (Picture book. 6-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-81895-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From McDonald (Tundra Mouse, 1997, etc.), a haunting, dramatic glimpse of the Bone Keeper, a trickster with special transformational powers. Some say Bone Woman is a ghost; some envision her with three heads that view past, present, and future simultaneously. Most, however, call her the “Skeleton Maker” or “Keeper of Bones.” Chanting, shaking, moaning, and wailing, the Bone Keeper is frenzied as she sorts bones; not until the end of the book are readers told, in murmuring lines of free verse, what the Bone Keeper is creating in her mysterious desert cave. Out of the darkness, a wolf springs to life, leaps from the cave, howling, a symbol of resurrection and proof of life’s cyclical nature. Also keeping readers guessing as to the Bone Keeper’s final creation are Karas’s paintings; they, too, require that the final piece of the puzzle be placed before all are understood. The coloring and textures embody the desert setting in the evening, showing the fearsome cave and sandy shadows that wait to release the mystery of the bones. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2559-9
Page Count: 30
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
