A solid addition to the animal-fact genre that gets the job done.
A compendium spotlights America’s most unusual fauna, from the bizarre to the endangered.
The infographic-style layout invites browsing rather than cover-to-cover reading, with each spread presenting multiple species in digestible chunks surrounded by fact boxes and “Did You Know?” and “Fun Facts” callouts. Readers learn that horned puffins live on the edges of rocky cliffs, that mantis shrimp possess eyes that can detect ultraviolet light, and that star-nosed moles have an elaborate bubble technique for smelling underwater. The bite-size format works well—a paragraph here about coyotes’ adaptability, a sidebar there about bald eagles’ vision—making this ideal for reluctant readers or those seeking quick information hits. James’ illustrations lean on soft, muted palettes of beiges, pale greens, and washed-out blues, giving the book a gentle accessibility but sacrificing visual impact. Categories like “Super Senses,” “Disgusting Diets,” and “What’s for Dinner?” organize the menagerie. Conservation status is provided for some animals, including the Devils Hole pupfish and Carolina northern flying squirrel. These worthy inclusions don’t significantly distinguish this from the many similar titles already crowding shelves; still, young factoid collectors will find plenty to mine. Guidance on observing wildlife safely and helping endangered species closes the work.
A solid addition to the animal-fact genre that gets the job done. (Nonfiction. 6-8)Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781464236532
Page Count: 48
Publisher: duopress/Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2026
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
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