Plenty to see for young animal (and plant) lovers, plus an expansive view of the concept of seasons.
Progressive split pages capture seasonal rounds and communities of wildlife in natural habitats worldwide.
Even the Arctic in winter has a populous look as Robin generously strews six broad, painted-paper–collage landscapes with flora and fauna that are strongly reminiscent of Eric Carle’s in color and composition. Most scenes are presented in a sequence of four increasingly larger, overlapped pages, one per season, arranged so that seams between seasons are artfully aligned. If Pang’s simply phrased commentary can’t always keep up, so that some of the wildlife on display goes unidentified, still it offers informational nourishment. This is conveyed in both specific facts (“The ostrich is the largest, heaviest bird in the world”) and big-picture explanations of what’s going on (“Behind giant dust clouds and swirling water, the Great Migration is taking place across the Mara River”). Moreover, in laudable contrast to the general run of seasonal albums, the usual spring-summer-fall-winter sequence changes up after opening views in and around a European oak. Alaskan scenes begin with autumn, China’s Yellow Dragon Valley with winter, and along with the Arctic’s binary winter and summer, both a mangrove swamp in northern Australia and Kenya’s Masaai Mara accurately see only “wet” and “dry” seasons. Human presence is confined to occasional pleas to be mindful of wild places.
Plenty to see for young animal (and plant) lovers, plus an expansive view of the concept of seasons. (Informational novelty. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 31, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-944530-37-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: 360 Degrees
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A strain for eyes and sensibilities alike.
A companion to Adventures in Space (2018) commemorating feats of exploration and discovery while harking back to the grand old days of Eurocentric colonialism.
In serigraphic-style illustrations that, like Lynn Curlee’s, privilege strong forms and monumentality over specific detail, Tyler depicts stylized locales beginning with “Polar Regions” and running from “Mountains” and “Volcanoes” through “Oceans,” “Deserts,” “Jungles,” and “Caves and Chasms.” These serve as backdrops for brief accounts of select “pioneering adventurers,” nearly all white Europeans, which feature lines such as “Samuel and Florence [Baker] followed the White Nile beyond Lake Albert and, in doing so, discovered an impressive waterfall,” and “[Alfred Russell Wallace] traveled through previously unexplored forests,” while offering patronizing nods to early Polynesian explorers and Indigenous Canadians. The author does highlight some modern adventurers including marine biologist Sylvia Earle and ill-fated volcanologist/filmmaker Katia Krafft but fails even to mention (for instance) early Muslim travelers or the 15th-century expeditions of Zheng He. The author also veers off topic in one chapter to plead for the conservation of forest ecosystems. Moreover, the final chapter’s black-on-black color scheme renders human and other forms nearly invisible, and elsewhere the narrative is printed in a small typeface on, all too often, dark blue or green backgrounds that render it barely legible. Armchair explorers can easily do better.
A strain for eyes and sensibilities alike. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-84365-427-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Pavilion/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
A good-enough gateway to more detailed texts but not on par with earlier works. (Graphic informational early reader. 4-6)
Ants are always moving, as this comic’s insect inhabitants collectively proclaim, and McCloskey’s fast-paced narrative stays true to this assertion.
Two children on a playground shrink to investigate an anthill, cursorily revealing myriad ant facts. Ant anatomy, the life cycle of an ant and a colony, the structure and hierarchy of the colony, and an exploration of the four ant senses (touch, smell, hearing, and taste) are covered in one- to two-page spreads, revealing some interesting tidbits of information (e.g., ants hear with their legs). The second half of the anthill tour provides some detail on various types of ant species, such as leaf-cutter ants, trap-jaw ants, and exploding ants. An amusing (and incomplete) list titled “What Ants Eat” is followed by a superfluous reintroduction of the children, again child-sized, which closes the volume. The book’s best feature is its illustrations. Painted on recycled grocery bags, the ants are detailed and expressive, making the children (one white-presenting and one black-) seem static in comparison, an impression exacerbated by the clumsy dialogue passing between the two. The facts fare better, although some spreads feel a bit crowded and organization is loose. The brevity of the information revealed may inspire independent research in older readers, which has the potential to yield some fascinating results. Somewhat disappointingly, the title has no bearing whatsoever on the text.
A good-enough gateway to more detailed texts but not on par with earlier works. (Graphic informational early reader. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-943145-45-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
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