A brisk tale with black-and-white illustrations sprinkled throughout, this features talking animals, unlikely coincidences, a breathless narrative style and a message about the value of diversity. When Beryl, an orphaned pig, is mistakenly marked for slaughter, she takes advantage of an unexpected opportunity to escape. Although raised to fear other animals, Beryl soon falls in with a friendly wild pig named Amber and her loving aunt and uncle. Prejudice against “pork” pigs, however, forces them to leave their comfortable colony and search for a new home. Revelations about Amber’s parentage, help from a wise and philosophical bear, a dangerous trek through human territory and a tragic accident follow. Simmons keeps the plot moving and includes some amusing details, such as the antics of the “Sisterhood of the Mystic Boar,” pigs who foretell the future and consider Beryl the “Chosen One.” Overall, however, this is too grim to be a great read-aloud for her usual audience and too lacking in nuance to captivate older fantasy fans, so it’s likely to have difficulty winning a wide readership. (Animal fantasy. 8-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-04410-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-87175-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
Varieties, life cycle, pack and hunting behavior, and the current status of this endangered predator—although with what may seem too many transparently rhetorical questions (``Are wolves savage and destructive hunters of people and livestock?'') and fillers (``After wolves kill a large animal, they may rest for a brief time or eat right away''). Without attribution, Simon states that ``...there is no record of a healthy wolf ever trying to kill a human in North America.'' In Gray Wolf, Red Wolf (1990, for slightly older readers), Patent is more precise: ``there is no record of a healthy wild wolf attacking a human.'' Patent also does a better job of stating the case for and against reintroducing wolves in national parks. Still, though his text isn't up to his usual high standard, Simon again selects outstanding photos—this book's strongest and most appealing feature. (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-022531-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993
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