Armchair animal watchers will enjoy the outdoor sights in this installment.
A squirrel and the retired doctor who saved him continue their story in this picture-book sequel for backyard nature lovers.
Pepito the Squirrel, who was rescued from an injury by a human, enjoys his life outside, near that human’s house. The doctor and his husband are renovating the place, and they’re happy with Pepito’s antics but wish there were more squirrels in the yard. When Pepito briefly goes missing, his rescuer worries, but the animal returns with a friend with a very short tail: Colita the Squirrel. The two are soon joined by more multicolored pals: “grey, black and brown, / And, even once, a blonde squirrel was found!” Erebia describes a yard full of gardens and birds as well as Pepito’s favorite spaces, such as a mossy patch where the squirrel does cartwheels. As in the first book, the digitally altered photographs are a highlight, and this sequel features several pages of multipaneled images so that readers can imagine Pepito in action. Erebia’s scansion is consistent throughout, although some sentences are arranged a bit awkwardly to achieve rhymes (“The men were renovating, a Dutch Colonial / Where Pepito worked out, his tendons peroneal”), and the occasionally challenging vocabulary makes the book best suited to older readers or families reading together.
Armchair animal watchers will enjoy the outdoor sights in this installment.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73608-583-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feworks
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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