A clever, owl-centric introduction to a familiar bird most readers have never seen.
Bespectacled Professor Olaf offers nine lessons on being an owl for human readers.
After pointing out that readers are quite a bit larger than any owl, the owl instructor poses some questions about skills. Can they fly? blend into their environment? see in the dark? Cleverly engaging readers with these and similar personal connections, Porter introduces important facts about owls’ silent flight, camouflage, sight, hearing, eating and regurgitation habits, sounds, homes, and chicks. Though this is clearly a book for very young readers, it has a simple but effective index, like all good nonfiction. First published in England in 2020, this appealing import specifically names many owls that live in parts of this country: eastern screech owls, burrowing owls, snowy owls, great horned owls, barn owls, and long-eared owls. The tutorial begins and ends with the owl code: “Be alert! Be watchful! Be silent!” But there’s a time to make noise, too. One grand spread invites readers to try out owl sounds. “LOUDER! You need other owls to hear you from half a mile away.” Frost’s amusing illustrations add to the charm. Her owls are clearly distinguishable and recognizable. But after learning that owl eye color generally correlates with the time of day they hunt, sharp-eyed readers may wonder why all the owls they see after that have yellow eyes.
A clever, owl-centric introduction to a familiar bird most readers have never seen. (Informational picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1521-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look...
Winning actually isn’t everything, as jazz-happy Rooster learns when he goes up against the legendary likes of Mules Davis and Ella Finchgerald at the barnyard talent show.
Having put together a band with renowned cousin Duck Ellington and singer “Bee” Holiday, Rooster’s chances sure look good—particularly after his “ ‘Hen from Ipanema’ [makes] / the barnyard chickies swoon.”—but in the end the competition is just too stiff. No matter: A compliment from cool Mules and the conviction that he still has the world’s best band soon puts the strut back in his stride. Alexander’s versifying isn’t always in tune (“So, he went to see his cousin, / a pianist of great fame…”), and despite his moniker Rooster plays an electric bass in Bower’s canted country scenes. Children are unlikely to get most of the jokes liberally sprinkled through the text, of course, so the adults sharing it with them should be ready to consult the backmatter, which consists of closing notes on jazz’s instruments, history and best-known musicians.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58536-688-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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