A heartfelt snapshot of a way of life.
A wide-format book in a style and subject matter reminiscent of Robert McCloskey’s old favorite Time of Wonder, this picture book describes life on an island in the San Juans, off the Washington coast.
An unnamed child of about 12 is seen waking up to the horn of the ferry, hiking through woods to get to the school bus stop, taking a field trip to the beach, collecting driftwood, catching crabs, kayaking, paddleboarding with friends, and generally enjoying the healthy outdoor pursuits of island life. Communication between an island and the mainland can take a while, and the mail truck and the local floatplanes are very important. Island residents get to experience all kinds of wildlife, from otters to orcas, and must rely on their own resources during storms and power outages. As the book states, “When you live on an island, things are different. Sometimes harder. Sometimes sweeter. Sometimes quieter. / Always magical.” Person’s soft watercolors convey this magic through a mix of close-ups and leisurely landscapes, with postcardlike insets of buildings and activities. The second-person narrative on each spread describes the child’s daily experiences, and supplemental panels give more detailed information about the natural world and animals special to the island, such as bald eagles and orcas. Both the protagonist and most of the secondary figures depicted seem white.
A heartfelt snapshot of a way of life. (Picture book. 6-12)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-63217-181-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sweet as honey.
Learn about the importance of keystone species in this buzzworthy book.
Honeybees are an important species—but how many people know just how important? Readers will after reading this bee-dazzling book that explains their essential role in the food chain. Three beekeepers (a White adult and two children, one Black and one White) are inspecting their beehives and discover a potential case of colony collapse disorder, a relatively new phenomenon in which an entire colony of bees dies off quickly. The book then delves into the logical events that would follow if all honeybee colonies collapsed, showing how many species—plant and animal, including humans—would be adversely affected. Each double-page spread presents one or two small paragraphs explaining the links in the chain of consequences in moderately simple language. The text is supported by lush cartoon illustrations that will pull in readers with each new page. The book ends with a brief glossary, suggestions for starting honeybee-related conversations at home and with friends, and a full-page bibliography for readers who have been stung with curiosity. It’s a fun and engaging read for nonfiction fans and will also pull double duty during science project festivals, as the resources and information will be invaluable for projects on ecology, animal husbandry, or food webs. An added bonus for beekeepers is that all three humans are observing sensible beekeeping practices as they work. (This book was reviewed digitally with 8.5-by-22-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Sweet as honey. (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-23245-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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
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