by Jennifer Berne ; illustrated by Amanda Hall ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 25, 2023
An ode to undersea life with visuals that beg to be animated, just as the text begs to be sung.
Geology, oceanography, biology, and 4.5 billion years of evolution—in quatrains.
Riveting illustrations and text depict the shaping of Earth’s surface, the formation of seas, and the emergence of life and complex biodiversity. In four-line “ballad” stanzas (four-beat, mostly iambic, alternating with three-beat, mostly anapestic, lines) that will make for a rollicking read-aloud, Berne traces the surprising steps from molten lava to teeming organisms. It might seem unlikely that verse could convey eons of dramatic development with scientific accuracy, but that happens here—with very few slips of rhyme or meter. And as impressive as Berne’s achievement is, it is gloriously overshadowed by Hall’s luminous art, rendered in watercolor, gouache, pencil crayon, pastel, and digital materials. Microscopic, tiny, merely big, or gigantic, the life forms Hall painstakingly depicts are neon, candy-colored, or pale; smooth, ribbed, or spiky, but always stunning. Capricious as fantasy but true to nature’s incredible reality, they are imaginatively displayed and vividly or subtly tinted. The sea creatures are not labeled, but by looking closely readers can find all that are mentioned—and there are extensive resources for further exploration.
An ode to undersea life with visuals that beg to be animated, just as the text begs to be sung. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, ocean creatures over time, key terms and concepts, recommended resources, selected bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-10)Pub Date: April 25, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5478-0
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak
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by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak
by Mike Lowery ; illustrated by Mike Lowery ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 7, 2021
A quick flight but a blast from first to last.
A charged-up roundup of astro-facts.
Having previously explored everything awesome about both dinosaurs (2019) and sharks (2020), Lowery now heads out along a well-traveled route, taking readers from the Big Bang through a planet-by-planet tour of the solar system and then through a selection of space-exploration highlights. The survey isn’t unique, but Lowery does pour on the gosh-wow by filling each hand-lettered, poster-style spread with emphatic colors and graphics. He also goes for the awesome in his selection of facts—so that readers get nothing about Newton’s laws of motion, for instance, but will come away knowing that just 65 years separate the Wright brothers’ flight and the first moon landing. They’ll also learn that space is silent but smells like burned steak (according to astronaut Chris Hadfield), that thanks to microgravity no one snores on the International Space Station, and that Buzz Aldrin was the first man on the moon…to use the bathroom. And, along with a set of forgettable space jokes (OK, one: “Why did the carnivore eat the shooting star?” “Because it was meteor”), the backmatter features drawing instructions for budding space artists and a short but choice reading list. Nods to Katherine Johnson and NASA’s other African American “computers” as well as astronomer Vera Rubin give women a solid presence in the otherwise male and largely White cast of humans. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A quick flight but a blast from first to last. (Informational picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-35974-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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by Laura Murray ; illustrated by Mike Lowery
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by Laura Murray ; illustrated by Mike Lowery
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by Mike Lowery ; illustrated by Mike Lowery
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