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A IS FOR BEE

Name: A IS FOR BEE
Author: Ellen Heck
ISBN: 978-1-64614-127-2

AN ALPHABET BOOK IN TRANSLATION

by Ellen Heck ; illustrated by Ellen Heck ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2022

Combining visual verve with a sense of our worldwide connectedness, this both teaches and entertains.

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A playful subversion of animal abecedaries.

Heck plumbs 68 non-English languages for 26 animal names that begin with different letters or sounds than their English counterparts. Thus, “G is for Cat” for speakers of Spanish (gato), Ojibwe (gaazhagens), and Korean (goyangi). I is for fish, O for eagle, and S for Lion. Frequent last-place-holder zebra is under V here—“Varikkutirai,” in Tamil. Heck includes languages spanning the globe, including those of several Native American tribes. As she explains in her author’s note, some of the represented languages with non-Roman alphabets or alternate writing systems are transliterated to represent the sounds that speakers make when saying the animal name. Against richly colored backgrounds, the black-and-white scratchboard illustrations dramatically employ contrast and texture. Hand-lettered display type enhances the visual drama and zestfully celebrates the multiplicity of animal names. Cleverly, each letter is hidden somewhere in the composition of its illustrated page, adding an A-to-Z seek-and-find element for children. Readers are also invited to use publisher-supplied links to hear native or fluent speakers pronounce the animal names. An alphabetized index links the languages to their respective letter(s). Cultural or geographical addenda might have further enhanced children’s understanding of this package’s truly global nexus. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Combining visual verve with a sense of our worldwide connectedness, this both teaches and entertains. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 3, 2022

ISBN: 978-1-64614-127-2

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Levine Querido

Review Posted Online: March 23, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS

- BOOK REVIEW
SUNFLOWER SEEDS
by Ellen Heck ; illustrated by Ellen Heck

- BOOK REVIEW
GOLDEN GATE
by Elizabeth Partridge ; illustrated by Ellen Heck

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MY MAGIC BREATH

FINDING CALM THROUGH MINDFUL BREATHING

by Nick Ortner & Alison Taylor & illustrated by Michelle Polizzi ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

While the use of “mindful” in the title will grab the attention of many, readers seeking tools to truly explore mindfulness...

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A little girl breathes her “magic breath,” transforming worry and sadness into serenity.

Learning to breathe deeply to find calm can be a wonderful coping tool for children—but not as instructed here. The book states that breathing deeply can help us to “push some of those thoughts away” when we are nervous or sad, a technique that can be augmented by bringing to mind happy thoughts to replace the sad ones. This strategy may be effective, but it is not (as the subtitle states) “mindful,” as true mindfulness practice encourages noticing everything as it is, even the unpleasant parts of life. The advice also seems to assume an audience of relative privilege. For vulnerable children, strategies of intentionally replacing unpleasant thoughts with more favorable ones can, far from bringing peace, actually reinforce destructive messages. Children experiencing abuse or discrimination often receive messages from adults in power that they deserve what is happening to them, so telling such children to simply breathe away their anxiety masks the very real issue underlying the symptom. Even leaving that concern aside, the book has very little to engage young readers. It offers no characters or plot, and most of the illustrations are simple mishmashes of color used to convey happy or sad breaths.

While the use of “mindful” in the title will grab the attention of many, readers seeking tools to truly explore mindfulness with children are better served elsewhere. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: May 15, 2018

ISBN: 978-0-06-268776-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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WHOSE BABY BUTT?

by Stan Tekiela ; photographed by Stan Tekiela ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 2018

With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!”...

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A wildlife photographer follows up Whose Butt? (2012) with a fresh portfolio of posteriors.

Showing no traces of fecal matter and only rarely even a glimpse of bare skin, the fuzzy or feathery fundaments on view belong to young creatures ranging from moose to mustang, cottontail to sandhill crane—all photographed in outdoor settings and all followed by longer-shot views of the whole animal, usually with a parent. The accompanying hints and nature notes are informative, if cutesy (“HANG ON! Baby opossums can hang by their tails, but as they grow, they become too heavy for upside-down fun”). In a more businesslike listing at the end, the author adds further comments about diet, range, and behavior for each, along with smaller headshots. Though any mention or image of “butts” will reliably get a rise from young audiences, overall this is more about baby animals in general than a specific portion of their anatomy.

With the possible exception of the opossum’s unlovely behind, more likely to elicit responses of “Cute!” than “Gross!” (Informational picture book. 4-6)