The gimmick may prove a draw, but topicwise there are some major holes.
Acetate-covered cutout windows invite fledgling readers to take peeks at human body systems.
It’s a select tour, featuring just the five basic senses, bare nods at the endocrine and immune systems, and no mention of reproduction at all. The uncredited writer makes clear efforts to keep the descriptive notes nontechnical, with uneven results. Most eyebrow-raising are a claim that “you have tiny hairs all over your body to keep you warm” and contradictory information about whether heart muscles contract with or without commands from the brain. Still, the focus on function rather than terminology properly lays a sturdy foundation for more extensive inquiries children may pursue in the future. Along with inside views and close-ups of isolated organs, Alice’s schematic illustrations feature a carefully diverse cast, including a child in a wheelchair and an older adult with a cane on a page leadingly titled “The Same Inside.” The body-shaped windows, acetate printed on both sides to present front and back views, are stacked to suggest how at least some of the seven systems are “always working together, like a machine,” and a final appeal to keep that machine ticking by eating properly and exercising ends the tour on a cogent note.
The gimmick may prove a draw, but topicwise there are some major holes. (Informational novelty. 6-8)Pub Date: March 23, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1725-4
Page Count: 16
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2021
It’s worth a look, but it won’t be a star player in any collection.
Let’s talk about animal adaptations!
Preschoolers are naturally curious and are filled with a million and one questions (on a slow day). Kaner takes on some animal-themed questions by examining how different species of animals have adapted to deal with chilly weather. The species are international: Alaskan wood frogs, Japanese macaques, and guanacos share the book with more familiar species such as squirrels, butterflies, and penguins. Some species are rather far-reaching. Are tuataras on a preschooler’s radar? And although a beaver opens the book with a fanciful scenario in which it turns up a thermostat, it’s never revealed how beavers stay warm. Resourceful educators may use these more unusual species as a launchpad for further exploration. Martz’s illustrations, which appear to be digital, humorously support the text throughout. Disappointingly, however the design of the book fails to take advantage of the page turn. The questions Kaner asks (“Do honeybees use teamwork?”) are answered across the gutter, effectively stopping all open-ended discussion among readers. This is unfortunate because it greatly limits the use of the book or requires jury-rigged props to promote critical-thinking and discussion skills. Furthermore, there is no backmatter with further reading or more information about the animal species discussed.
It’s worth a look, but it won’t be a star player in any collection. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-77147-292-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lively once-over that gets further beneath the skin of its subject than first glances might suggest.
A stylish introduction to the structures and functions of cells, starting on “the derrière of a Boston terrier.”
Congratulating readers on being the owners of “37 trillion high-performance cells,” canine skin cell Ellie defines them as the difference between living and nonliving things. She then goes on to explain that each “itty-bitty building block” from red blood cell to sperm and egg has one or more jobs, how mitochondria and other organelles contribute to the effort, and (with help from a “cellfie”) how cells make more cells. Fisher incorporates text large and small in hand-lettered styles into swirling, exuberant painted images that more often suggest rather than clinically depict various sorts of cells and creatures made up of them; they definitely capture the breezy vein of the cellular tour, however. Ellie doesn’t get to a few things—meiosis, for instance, or viruses—but she covers considerable territory…and once she’s done (“I gotta split!”), the author finishes off with jokes, a source note for the “37 trillion” claim, and leads to more-detailed surveys of the topic.
A lively once-over that gets further beneath the skin of its subject than first glances might suggest. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5185-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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