A gorgeously rendered set of photographs and captions that will delight the family’s littlest naturalists.
An introduction to some of North America’s weird and wonderful wildlife.
Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest is the largest remaining temperate rainforest on the planet. Every spring, this diverse ecosystem becomes home to a fascinating array of baby animals, birds, and other wildlife. From the adorably inquisitive Kermode bear cub through the ridiculously fuzzy glaucous-winged gull chick to the shimmering, squishy baby opalescent squid, the youngest inhabitants of the Great Bear Rainforest are all wonderful in their own, unique ways. Nature photographer McAllister’s stunning images are paired with colorful, simple, thoughtfully designed captions stating the names of the wildlife pictured. Since the book includes land mammals, birds, and marine life, the photographs also provide an introduction to the habitats that form the rainforest’s ground, canopy, and waters as well as a glimpse into the creatures’ homes and, at times, dietary habits. The book is visually stimulating without being overwhelming, making it perfect for very young readers who are more engaged with pictures than with text. The careful selection of unusual creatures also makes it more interesting than the typical baby-animal book. Older children will enjoy the photographs but may wish for more information than the book contains; McAllister’s collaborations with Nicholas Read (A Whale’s World, 2018, etc.), while aimed at early-elementary children, may be a better bet.
A gorgeously rendered set of photographs and captions that will delight the family’s littlest naturalists. (Board book. 6 mos.-2)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2166-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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
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
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