Sashays down the runway but fails to make any lasting impression.
Eleven wild creatures model mud, oil, dead ants, poop, and other fashion-forward accessories.
Though the conceit has at least as much promise as that of her I See Sea Food: Sea Creatures That Look Like Food (2019), Grodzicki shows an odd reluctance to own it. She characterizes both the iron-rich muck that bearded vultures rub into their feathers and the anal-gland oil that flamingos rub into theirs to make them even more “Pretty in Pink” as actual adornment. However, she contradicts her own language to note that wild boars aren’t wallowing in “muddy body paint” to “make a fashion statement,” and even after heading an entry “BLING! BLING!” she explains that the pile of “jewelry” (i.e. bits of plant and animal debris) that lacewing larvae carry around for protection “isn’t sparkly or flashy.” Overall the author’s comments about how various found or excreted substances play roles in predation, defense, or attracting a mate (just like with people, not that she makes that connection) are spot-on, and the big, sharply focused, close-up stock photos will be a strong draw. But the ready way she abandons her premise muddles the presentation and will likely leave readers feeling confused or let down. Steer young naturalists first to the similar but more bounteous Creature Features: 25 Animals Explain Why They Look the Way They Do by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (2014). (This book was reviewed digitally with 9.75-by-19.5-inch double-page spreads viewed at 58% of actual size.)
Sashays down the runway but fails to make any lasting impression. (summary fact boxes, glossary) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5415-8123-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure.
It’s not truffles but doubloons that tickle this porcine wayfarer’s fancy.
Funke and Meyer make another foray into chapter-book fare after Emma and the Blue Genie (2014). Here, mariner Stout Sam and deckhand Pip eke out a comfortable existence on Butterfly Island ferrying cargo to and fro. Life is good, but it takes an unexpected turn when a barrel washes ashore containing a pig with a skull-and-crossbones pendant around her neck. It soon becomes clear that this little piggy, dubbed Julie, has the ability to sniff out treasure—lots of it—in the sea. The duo is pleased with her skills, but pride goeth before the hog. Stout Sam hands out some baubles to the local children, and his largess attracts the unwanted attention of Barracuda Bill and his nasty minions. Now they’ve pignapped Julie, and it’s up to the intrepid sailors to save the porker and their own bacon. The succinct word count meets the needs of kids looking for early adventure fare. The tale is slight, bouncy, and amusing, though Julie is never the piratical buccaneer the book’s cover seems to suggest. Meanwhile, Meyer’s cheery watercolors are as comfortable diagramming the different parts of a pirate vessel as they are rendering the dread pirate captain himself.
A nifty high-seas caper for chapter-book readers with a love of adventure and a yearning for treasure. (Adventure. 7-9)Pub Date: June 23, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-37544-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2015
A floral fantasia for casual browsers as well as budding botanists.
Spirited illustrations brighten a large-format introduction to flowers and their pollinators.
Showing a less Eurocentric outlook than in his Big Book of Birds (2019), Zommer employs agile brushwork and a fondness for graceful lines and bright colors to bring to life bustling bouquets from a range of habitats, from rainforest to desert. Often switching from horizontal to vertical orientations, the topical spreads progress from overviews of major floral families and broad looks at plant anatomy and reproduction to close-ups of select flora—roses and tulips to Venus flytraps and stinking flowers. The book then closes with a shoutout to the conservators and other workers at Kew Gardens (this is a British import) and quick suggestions for young balcony or windowsill gardeners. In most of the low-angled scenes, fancifully drawn avian or insect pollinators with human eyes hover around all the large, luscious blooms, as do one- or two-sentence comments that generally add cogent observations or insights: “All parts of the deadly nightshade plant contain poison. It has been used to poison famous emperors, kings and warriors throughout history.” (Confusingly for the audience, the accurate but limited assertion that bees “often visit blue or purple flowers” appears to be contradicted by an adjacent view of several zeroing in on a yellow toadflax.) Human figures, or, in one scene, hands, are depicted in a variety of sizes, shapes, and skin colors.
A floral fantasia for casual browsers as well as budding botanists. (glossary, index) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-500-65199-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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