IF THE EARTH WERE A FEW FEET IN DIAMETER

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IF THE EARTH WERE A FEW FEET IN DIAMETER

Name: IF THE EARTH WERE A FEW FEET IN DIAMETER
Author: Joe Miller
ISBN: 0-86713-054-7

by Joe Miller & illustrated by Wilson McLean ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

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Miller’s 1975 poem, a prosaic nine-sentence proposal that our planet would get more appreciation and respect if it were small enough to see all at once, is elaborated with wooden, unevenly executed illustrations, and running sidebars by Vinciguerra of random general facts. McLean interprets Miller’s vision literally, placing a haystack-sized Earth into an open, rural landscape; although he depicts surrounding plants and animals with detailed modeling and precisely applied colors, any feeling of motion is stately at best and the Earth appears flat, with only vaguely visible features. It becomes part of a dubious proposition, in flashy but superficial dress. (Picture book. 6-8)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-86713-054-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1998

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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BERRY MAGIC

by Teri Sloat & Betty Huffman & illustrated by Teri Sloat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2004

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Sloat collaborates with Huffman, a Yu’pik storyteller, to infuse a traditional “origins” tale with the joy of creating. Hearing the old women of her village grumble that they have only tasteless crowberries for the fall feast’s akutaq—described as “Eskimo ice cream,” though the recipe at the end includes mixing in shredded fish and lard—young Anana carefully fashions three dolls, then sings and dances them to life. Away they bound, to cover the hills with cranberries, blueberries, and salmonberries. Sloat dresses her smiling figures in mixes of furs and brightly patterned garb, and sends them tumbling exuberantly through grassy tundra scenes as wildlife large and small gathers to look on. Despite obtrusively inserted pronunciations for Yu’pik words in the text, young readers will be captivated by the action, and by Anana’s infectious delight. (Picture book/folktale. 6-8)

Pub Date: June 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-88240-575-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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by Teri Sloat and illustrated by Stefano Vitale

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BUTT OR FACE?

by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023

A gleeful game for budding naturalists.

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Artfully cropped animal portraits challenge viewers to guess which end they’re seeing.

In what will be a crowd-pleasing and inevitably raucous guessing game, a series of close-up stock photos invite children to call out one of the titular alternatives. A page turn reveals answers and basic facts about each creature backed up by more of the latter in a closing map and table. Some of the posers, like the tail of an okapi or the nose on a proboscis monkey, are easy enough to guess—but the moist nose on a star-nosed mole really does look like an anus, and the false “eyes” on the hind ends of a Cuyaba dwarf frog and a Promethea moth caterpillar will fool many. Better yet, Lavelle saves a kicker for the finale with a glimpse of a small parasitical pearlfish peeking out of a sea cucumber’s rear so that the answer is actually face and butt. “Animal identification can be tricky!” she concludes, noting that many of the features here function as defenses against attack: “In the animal world, sometimes your butt will save your face and your face just might save your butt!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gleeful game for budding naturalists. (author’s note) (Informational picture book. 6-8)