Produced as a companion to an exhibit at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History, this handsomely designed album pairs photographed fossils and speculative but realistically detailed portraits of hundreds of creatures—nearly all extinct—with descriptive captions and short passages of text that draw connections between them and modern animals. With frequent pauses for side looks at the idea of natural selection, the spectacular array of specimens found at Fossil Lake, Wyo., and other special topics, the smooth narrative moves chronologically from the Cambrian period to the first appearances of Homo sapiens and ice-age mammals. The authors also discuss possible causes for each of five periodic mass extinctions, from the one that brought the Ordovician Period to an end about 450 million years ago to the one that’s happening now. The large but digestible volume of information (lovers of polysyllabic names in particular will be in hog heaven) along with a coherent overview of life’s development on our planet combine to boost this above the general run of prehistory panoramas. (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8109-9486-7
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2008
Miranda’s book counts the monsters gathering at a birthday party, while a simple rhyming text keeps the tally and surveys the action: “Seven starved monsters are licking the dishes./Eight blow out candles and make birthday wishes.” The counting proceeds to ten, then by tens to fifty, then gradually returns to one, which makes the monster’s mother, a purple pin-headed octopus, very happy. The book is surprisingly effective due to Powell’s artwork; the color has texture and density, as if it were poured onto the page, but the real attention-getter is the singularity of every monster attendee. They are highly individual and, therefore, eminently countable. As the numbers start crawling upward, it is both fun and a challenge to try to recognize monsters who have appeared in previous pages, or to attempt to stay focused when counting the swirling or bunched creatures. The story has glints of humor, and in combination with the illustrations is a grand addition to the counting shelf. (Picture book. 3-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201835-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
The Pumpkin Book (32 pp.; $16.95; Sept. 15; 0-8234-1465-5): From seed to vine and blossom to table, Gibbons traces the growth cycle of everyone’s favorite autumn symbol—the pumpkin. Meticulous drawings detail the transformation of tiny seeds to the colorful gourds that appear at roadside stands and stores in the fall. Directions for planting a pumpkin patch, carving a jack-o’-lantern, and drying the seeds give young gardeners the instructions they need to grow and enjoy their own golden globes. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1465-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
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