Overall, a fine primer for children and families ready to explore Cascadia’s extraordinary habitats.
Organized by habitat, this guide catalogs over 90 animals, plants, fungi, and other natural denizens of the Pacific Northwest.
After a brief introduction and tips for safely exploring in nature, Cohen introduces four organizing habitats: “Forest,” “Beach,” “Freshwater,” and “Backyards and Urban Parks.” Each section presents brief, pithy information with well-chosen facts. Most subjects garner at least one paragraph, some as many as four or five, with fascinating details sure to capture kids’ attention. To mate, two hermaphroditic banana slugs “climb a tree together and then dangle off a branch, hanging from a rope of slime.” (Humans encountering slug slime are reminded that rinsing with water will make the goo swell. “The way to get it off is to rub, and keep rubbing.”) Fylling, a scientific illustrator, provides precisely rendered thumbnail pictures. These are first presented collectively, with their common and scientific names, at the start of each habitat section, then reproduced singly for Cohen’s descriptions. Curiously, the geoduck (one of the Pacific Northwest’s most bizarre-looking creatures and the largest burrowing clam in the world) gets no illustration. Salmon merit a multipage treatment and a depiction of the chum salmon’s life cycle. The venerable orca J2, who reached the probable age of 105 in 2016, gets a present-tense mention, though she’s generally believed to have died sometime after an October sighting that year.
Overall, a fine primer for children and families ready to explore Cascadia’s extraordinary habitats. (index, seasonal timeline) (Nonfiction. 7-11)Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-63217-083-5
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: March 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2017
Thousands of years ago, the Komodo dragon may have inspired dragon legends in China and beyond. In more recent times, researchers from all over the world have traveled to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia to study the Komodo dragon. This lively if somewhat haphazardly organized account focuses on the efforts of contemporary researchers, presents some of their cooler findings (female dragons can reproduce through parthenogenesis; their saliva is laced with deadly bacteria) and profiles a few captive specimens. Mostly color photographs from a variety of sources adorn almost every page, and captions add to the information. Learning about the Komodo dragon is not for the faint of heart, and the photos show the wild beasts in all their gory glory. The extensive backmatter includes brief facts about Indonesia, more information on the Komodo dragon life cycle and its use of smell and conservation information. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Komodo Survival Program. (bibliography, further reading, glossary, websites, index, author’s note) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-757-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective.
The author of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (2004) tells her father’s tale again, for younger readers.
Though using a less personal tone this time and referring to herself in the third person, Robinson still devotes as much attention to his family life, youth and post-baseball career as she does to his achievements on the field. Writing in short sentences and simple language, she presents a clear picture of the era’s racial attitudes and the pressures he faced both in the military service and in baseball—offering plenty of clear reasons to regard him not just as a champion athlete, but as a hero too. An early remark about how he ran with “a bunch of black, Japanese, and Mexican boys” while growing up in Pasadena is insensitively phrased, and a sweeping claim that by 1949 “[t]he racial tension was broken” in baseball is simplistic. Nevertheless, by and large her account covers the bases adequately. The many photos include an admixture of family snapshots, and a closing Q-and-A allows the author to announce the imminent release of a new feature film about Robinson.
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective. (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-54006-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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