For appreciation rather than information, this is an interesting addition to the environmental shelf.
Photographs of a series of cut-paper dioramas form this seek-and-find puzzle book starring hidden creatures in the natural world.
The format of this appealing nature title is straightforward. First, a double-page spread shows a shadowy habitat in which insects, spiders and other creepy-crawlies are hidden. The next spread shows and describes the five creatures in short paragraphs that include interesting facts about their behavior. Roughly stretching from east to west across the United States, the habitats include a forest, marsh, desert, creek, meadow and flower-filled backyard. Except for the backyard view (through a window), the vantage point is ground-level, which viewers will find unusual. True bugs and pill bugs, bees and grasshoppers, scorpions and beetles, and various insects with “fly” in their names are among the creatures shown. One or two may be obvious in the image. After turning the page and seeing the individual illustrations, readers might turn back and discover more, but most are likely to need the “bug key” that concludes this title to find them all. (Figures in the dioramas’ foregrounds are artily out of focus, making discernment difficult.) The author’s point is simple and effectively made: These tiny creatures cleverly conceal themselves by matching their environments. The creatures are recognizable, and the descriptive information is generally accurate though unsourced.
For appreciation rather than information, this is an interesting addition to the environmental shelf. (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: April 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-940052-14-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Craigmore Creations
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2015
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of...
An international story tackles a serious global issue with Reynolds’ characteristic visual whimsy.
Gie Gie—aka Princess Gie Gie—lives with her parents in Burkina Faso. In her kingdom under “the African sky, so wild and so close,” she can tame wild dogs with her song and make grass sway, but despite grand attempts, she can neither bring the water closer to home nor make it clean. French words such as “maintenant!” (now!) and “maman” (mother) and local color like the karite tree and shea nuts place the story in a French-speaking African country. Every morning, Gie Gie and her mother perch rings of cloth and large clay pots on their heads and walk miles to the nearest well to fetch murky, brown water. The story is inspired by model Georgie Badiel, who founded the Georgie Badiel Foundation to make clean water accessible to West Africans. The details in Reynolds’ expressive illustrations highlight the beauty of the West African landscape and of Princess Gie Gie, with her cornrowed and beaded hair, but will also help readers understand that everyone needs clean water—from the children of Burkina Faso to the children of Flint, Michigan.
Though told by two outsiders to the culture, this timely and well-crafted story will educate readers on the preciousness of potable water. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-17258-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book.
Ada Twist’s incessant stream of questions leads to answers that help solve a neighborhood crisis.
Ada conducts experiments at home to answer questions such as, why does Mom’s coffee smell stronger than Dad’s coffee? Each answer leads to another question, another hypothesis, and another experiment, which is how she goes from collecting data on backyard birds for a citizen-science project to helping Rosie Revere figure out how to get her uncle Ned down from the sky, where his helium-filled “perilous pants” are keeping him afloat. The Questioneers—Rosie the engineer, Iggy Peck the architect, and Ada the scientist—work together, asking questions like scientists. Armed with knowledge (of molecules and air pressure, force and temperature) but more importantly, with curiosity, Ada works out a solution. Ada is a recognizable, three-dimensional girl in this delightfully silly chapter book: tirelessly curious and determined yet easily excited and still learning to express herself. If science concepts aren’t completely clear in this romp, relationships and emotions certainly are. In playful full- and half-page illustrations that break up the text, Ada is black with Afro-textured hair; Rosie and Iggy are white. A closing section on citizen science may inspire readers to get involved in science too; on the other hand, the “Ode to a Gas!” may just puzzle them. Other backmatter topics include the importance of bird study and the threat palm-oil use poses to rainforests.
Adventure, humor, and smart, likable characters make for a winning chapter book. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: April 16, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3422-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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