Young readers will be inspired by these women who show an unwavering commitment to preserving the wildlife, no matter what...
The photography-driven book tells the story of an all-women animal rescue team working in India’s Gir National Park, the world’s last known habitat for Asiatic lions.
The book is narrated by Rashila, who declares, “I love lions,” and who became the first woman forest guard at Gir in her early 20s, earning the moniker “Lion Queen.” Subsequently, several other women have been hired as guards, hence the title’s plural. From fighting poachers to confronting lions, and despite the dangers these women face on a daily basis, they show an unwavering commitment to preserving the wildlife, no matter what it takes. Reynolds’ photography (supplemented by others’ contributions) is based on fieldwork in Gir in January 2018 as well as interviews and ongoing conversations with sanctuary leadership and workers. The result is a refreshing take on the exotic-animal photo essay, one that centers people of the community rather than white, foreign scientists. Indeed, the only white person in the book can be found in a small photo of the author riding pillion on a motorbike with Rashila. In her author’s note, Reynolds describes initially meeting Rashila and then shadowing her through the park. The note also reiterates the text’s strong environmental messaging. In addition to profiling these remarkable women, the text is full of lion facts and vocabulary, which make it a solid nonfiction book about animals.
Young readers will be inspired by these women who show an unwavering commitment to preserving the wildlife, no matter what it takes. (bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: July 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64379-051-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort.
A look at the unique ways that 11 globe-spanning animal species construct their homes.
Each creature garners two double-page spreads, which Cherrix enlivens with compelling and at-times jaw-dropping facts. The trapdoor spider constructs a hidden burrow door from spider silk. Sticky threads, fanning from the entrance, vibrate “like a silent doorbell” when walked upon by unwitting insect prey. Prairie dogs expertly dig communal burrows with designated chambers for “sleeping, eating, and pooping.” The largest recorded “town” occupied “25,000 miles and housed as many as 400 million prairie dogs!” Female ants are “industrious insects” who can remove more than a ton of dirt from their colony in a year. Cathedral termites use dirt and saliva to construct solar-cooled towers 30 feet high. Sasaki’s lively pictures borrow stylistically from the animal compendiums of mid-20th-century children’s lit; endpapers and display type elegantly suggest the blues of cyanotypes and architectural blueprints. Jarringly, the lead spread cheerfully extols the prowess of the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, “the world’s largest living structure,” while ignoring its accelerating, human-abetted destruction. Calamitously, the honeybee hive is incorrectly depicted as a paper-wasps’ nest, and the text falsely states that chewed beeswax “hardens into glue to shape the hive.” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An arguable error of omission and definite errors of commission sink this otherwise attractive effort. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5625-9
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An attractive addition to settings where Wolf Island (2017) and A Bear’s Life (2017) have been popular.
Seals and sea lions shelter in a protected area of the Great Bear Sea, safe from stormy weather and prowling orcas.
McAllister, a photographer with more than 20 years of experience in the temperate rainforest along Canada’s Pacific coast, again teams up with Canadian journalist Read. This third in their series for younger readers uses McAllister’s photographs to illustrate a slim storyline about seals, sea lions, and other creatures who take cover from a storm in rocky areas larger animals can’t penetrate. Striking images, both above and under the water, show wide-eyed seals and the larger sea lions (but not the sea otters also mentioned). Later, when the storm is over, a group of orcas appears, circling around the entrance. In the clear, sunlit water, they can see the smaller mammals, but they can’t reach them. Kelp and other underwater vegetation provide a leafy backdrop to the scene. After the orcas move on, a final spread looks up at a group of seals on a barnacle-covered rock, once again comfortable in their world. Able readers who want to know more about this underwater world will enjoy The Great Bear Sea (2013), by the same team.
An attractive addition to settings where Wolf Island (2017) and A Bear’s Life (2017) have been popular. (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1267-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
