Bug lovers will have plenty to buzz about after reading this picture book.
Join spunky Bella as she explores her neighborhood in search of different bugs.
Bella prepares for her bug hunt by gathering the requisite tools before heading outside. She soon encounters her pal Billy, and together they marvel at a line of industrious ants. Ant facts are shared via annotated diagrams. The two kids move on to investigations of bees, bugs that jump, flying insects, and those found in a pond. Bella demonstrates an activity called “pond dipping,” which allows a young entomologist to closely examine pond-dwelling creatures by using a white tray and a small net. The story moves briskly into metamorphosis, catching bugs in a tumble trap, and more. Bella never harms the bugs, and she returns them to their habitats. At the end of the day, Bella finds herself back at home and ready for bed after a full day of arthropod appreciation. The pages are crammed with text in varying font sizes, covering a broad range of insect-related topics. Young readers can enjoy searching for Nancy, the house spider who makes an appearance on each double-page spread. The full-color digital illustrations are bright and keep pace with the information-driven plot. Bella and her caregiver are White; Billy has dark brown skin; and Pedro, another of Bella’s friends, has light brown skin and wears hearing aids. Insect conservation tips comprise the backmatter. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Bug lovers will have plenty to buzz about after reading this picture book. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7112-6562-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Happy Yak
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
PERSPECTIVES
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle.
Through many types of weather and the different seasons, water tells readers about its many forms.
“Sometimes I’m the rain cloud / and sometimes I’m the rain.” Water can make rainbows and can appear to be different colors. Water is a waterfall, a wave, an ocean swell, a frozen pond, the snow on your nose, a cloud, frost, a comet, a part of you. Throughout, Paterson’s rhyming verses evoke images of their own: “Soon the summer sun is back / and warms me with its rays. / I rise in rumbling thunderheads / like castles in the haze,” though at times word order seems to have been chosen for rhyme rather than meaning (“In fall I sink into a fog / and blanket chilly fields, / with pumpkins touched by morning frost / the harvest season yields”). Backmatter includes a diagram of the water cycle that introduces and describes each step with solid vocabulary, including “Collection” as a step in the process; “The Science Behind the Poetry,” which unpacks some of the poetic language and phrases; some water activities and explorations; conservation tips; and a list of other books from the publisher about water. Paterson’s full- and double-page–spread illustrations are just as magical as his verse, showing water in its many forms from afar and close up. Few people appear on his pages, but the vast majority of those are people of color.
A lyrical and educational look at the water cycle. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: March 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58469-615-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dawn Publications
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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