A charming introduction to the world of exotic cats and endangered species.
Whimsical watercolor pages alternate with stark black-and-white text in this story of a lost kitten working its way through the Big Cat section of the zoo, looking for its family.
On its journey, the kitten encounters a tiger, lion, cheetah, clouded leopard, puma, jaguar, bobcat and ocelot, noting similarities and differences between itself and each big cat. The tiger sends the kitten to the lion because the kitten lived in a group and lions live in prides. However, the lion soon hears the kitten purr and sends it off to the cheetahs, as cheetahs purr and lions don’t. Some featured traits, such as purring, are easy to understand, but others, such as proportion to size, may need further explanation for young readers, as the illustrations do not clearly reinforce the trait being highlighted. Also challenging is the fact that, perhaps due to their exotic nature, the cats answer the kitten’s simple questions with long, complex sentences. At the book’s conclusion, the kitten falls asleep in the tiger section, and the zookeeper’s daughter asks to take it home (though mistakes the feline for a baby tiger). Along the way, “Key Facts” sections give nitty-gritty information about cats, including their status on endangered species lists, though the author leaves it up to adult readers to explain the meaning of the term “endangered.” Major facts shared include population status (ranging from endangered to critically endangered to vulnerable), weight, life span (for wild creatures and those in zoos) and litter size; a world map shows each cat’s habitat. Although the narrative is simple enough for a child, some concepts are more appropriate for those at higher level of education. In this way, the target audience is unclear–while the layout resembles that of a transitional book, translating complicated sentences will require the help of an adult.
A charming introduction to the world of exotic cats and endangered species.Pub Date: March 3, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-4196-8467-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97744-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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
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