by James O. Fraioli ; illustrated by Joe St. Pierre ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2019
Nearly founders under its informational load, but shark lovers will bite.
Fabien Cousteau, grandson of Jacques, leads two fictive young explorers to a close encounter with a great white.
Though the urge to lecture wins out (“As we know,” a crew member drones, “sharks are being fished at a rate that’s faster than they can reproduce”), this graphic outing does end up carrying a hefty cargo of information about shark behavior, their role in the food chain, and continuing threats to their existence. Climaxed by a nerve-wracking demonstration of the tricky process of shark “tagging,” the marine expedition is also punctuated by glimpses of dolphins, whales, albatrosses, a deep-sea oarfish, and other sea creatures, not to mention the recovery of a huge trove of sunken treasure and undersea observations in no fewer than three submersibles: a clear Plexiglass shell, one disguised as a big seal, and one shaped like a shark. Considering that the latter two draw brief but violent attacks it’s a bit of a hard sell to claim that sharks are “very peaceful and likable,” but the wide-eyed students—calm, brown-skinned Bela and her timorous white friend Marcus—definitely come away, as do readers, understanding that humans are far more dangerous to sharks than vice versa. The lengthy blocks of dialogue and background commentary really squeeze the researchers and their finny subjects in St. Pierre’s brightly colored panels, but along with plainly making an effort to minimize talking heads and static standing groups, he manages to depict a diverse array of fish and other sea life.
Nearly founders under its informational load, but shark lovers will bite. (Graphic informational fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2088-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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by James O. Fraioli ; illustrated by Joe St. Pierre
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BOOK REVIEW
by James O. Fraioli ; illustrated by Joe St. Pierre
by Susan Musgrave ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 15, 1999
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
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by Susan Musgrave ; illustrated by Marilyn Faucher
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by Susan Musgrave ; illustrated by Esperança Melo
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by Susan Musgrave ; illustrated by Esperança Melo
by Pamela Hickman & illustrated by Pat Stephens ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001
Another child-friendly nature book from the team that offered Animals in Motion (2000), this one has added bite. With no graphic violence, but a deliciously close attention to toothy detail, Stephens paints oversized, in-your-face views of a gaping crocodile, a python swallowing an entire deer, a lamprey's stuff-of-nightmare mouth, and other creature features that will rivet browsers—of the human sort, anyway. Hickman contributes notes and diagrams on the various kinds of teeth, jaws, beaks, tongues, and baleen sported by herbivores, carnivores, and carrion-eaters, adding a look at diverse strategies for taking in nourishment and water. Directions for low-tech demonstrations will help children understand food webs, how a frog's tongue works, a housefly's decidedly icky eating habits and like topics. Seasoned with well-chosen examples and scientific terms, this clear, non-technical study will afford plenty of food for thought—though the lack of a book or Web site list will give readers hoping for leads to further information a bone to pick with the author. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-55074-577-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
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by Pamela Hickman ; illustrated by Zafouko Yamamoto
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by Pamela Hickman ; illustrated by Carolyn Gavin
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by Pamela Hickman ; illustrated by Carolyn Gavin
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