“Rock stars of the ocean” in all their brief but flashy glory.
Take a plunge into the waters off southern Australia and come face to face with this spooky-looking cephalopod.
The giant cuttlefish, whose life stretches here from egg sac to reproduction and death, is depicted as both predator and potential prey, snapping up crabs but dodging voracious dolphins and seals. He encounters an even larger cuttlefish competitor but uses his color-changing ability to lure a female of the species. After mating, he dies (these animals’ “live-fast-and-die-young life cycle” has earned them the moniker “rock stars of the ocean”), but Alexander soft-pedals his demise: His legacy is the egg sacs that his mate lays. Size comparisons to familiar objects (a raisin, a watermelon, a football) help readers connect with the text. The starring mollusk is treated familiarly but not anthropomorphized. The final pages, featuring vocabulary suited to older readers, provide detailed information on the giant cuttlefish’s life cycle, adaptations, hunting and mating habits (especially the female’s role), and threats (particularly from humans). These sections divulge some stunning facts that go unmentioned in the narrative, including the giant cuttlefish’s three hearts, blue-green blood, and colorblindness. Since the creature’s average length at maturity is just 20 inches, “giant” is relative, but our hero looms large in Orodán’s dramatic, boldly colored digital illustrations, stretching across most pages. This cephalopod is hardly cuddly, but Alexander makes the most of its impressive intelligence and natural abilities to win us over.
“Rock stars of the ocean” in all their brief but flashy glory. (bibliography, glossary) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781536229684
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
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)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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