A simple, effective introduction to some big ideas for curious young readers.
From nothing to “a big tangled web” of life, the origin of the universe and everything in it.
Science journalist Bal pares the most commonly accepted models for the origin of the universe and development of life down to bare essentials, presenting them as accepted fact and gliding over some obvious questions. (Where did the stuff that fills the universe come from?) Nevertheless, this is an appealing addition to a small shelf of titles about cosmic beginnings for the very young. Unlike Marion Dane Bauer’s The Stuff of Stars, illustrated by Ekua Holmes (2018), it stops with the accomplishments of humans as a group, ending with the moon landing rather than with the individual reader. Unlike Karen Fox’s Older Than the Stars, illustrated by Nancy Davis (2010), there’s no supplemental backmatter. Special to this version of the vast history are Van Doninck’s sinuous illustrations, which explode with playful detail, swirls of color in the darkness of space, and surprising landscapes. One spread shows a wave of increasingly complex sea animals; another, the dinosaurs’ world; and a third, the catastrophic arrival of an asteroid and the dark world that followed. Earth is repopulated with dark-furred apes learning to walk upright; lighter skinned cave artists; then farmers, herders, travelers, and finally astronauts of varied skin tones. First published in 2018 in the Netherlands, this was translated by the Canadian publisher for this English edition.
A simple, effective introduction to some big ideas for curious young readers. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0255-8
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature.
In a new entry in the Over and Under series, a paddleboarder glimpses humpback whales leaping, floats over a populous kelp forest, and explores life on a beach and in a tide pool.
In this tale inspired by Messner’s experiences in Monterey Bay in California, a young tan-skinned narrator, along with their light-skinned mom and tan-skinned dad, observes in quiet, lyrical language sights and sounds above and below the sea’s serene surface. Switching perspectives and angles of view and often leaving the family’s red paddleboards just tiny dots bobbing on distant swells, Neal’s broad seascapes depict in precise detail bat stars and anchovies, kelp bass, and sea otters going about their business amid rocky formations and the swaying fronds of kelp…and, further out, graceful moon jellies and—thrillingly—massive whales in open waters beneath gliding pelicans and other shorebirds. After returning to the beach at day’s end to search for shells and to spot anemones and decorator crabs, the child ends with nighttime dreams of stars in the sky meeting stars in the sea. Appended nature notes on kelp and 21 other types of sealife fill in details about patterns and relationships in this rich ecosystem. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
More thoughtful, sometimes exhilarating encounters with nature. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-79720-347-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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