Inspiration for both keen-eyed nature lovers and gardening families.
A child’s introduction to gardening for pollinators.
Reserving the explicit introduction of concepts such as biodiversity and evolution for the brief author’s note, Zwetchkenbaum builds the narrative atop them. The pollinators covered in the book and the blooms the creatures visit are all native to North America, mostly the Northeast. An orange-tipped wood digger sips from a white beardtongue blossom; a red trillium lures a cloud of fungus gnats with its carrion scent. For each creature-and-flower pair, the organisms’ Latin names appear in italic type beneath their common names in easy-to-read labels. A simple narrative, presented in larger type and voiced by a Black-presenting, ponytailed child, also unfolds, often explaining the special relationship between the pollinator and flower in question: “Butterflies can…reach nectar in long flowers. They need a place to stand.” Coupled with Cosgrove’s brushy-textured illustrations, Zwetchkenbaum’s straightforward prose will help children understand how the wild bergamot and the spicebush swallowtail are well suited to each other. Cosgrove’s depictions are accurate enough to depict the principles but not so detailed that children will likely be able to identify, say, an unequal cellophane bee or a spring beauty miner bee in the wild. No matter; the bibliography includes both books and websites that support further exploration. These adult-oriented resources will encourage intergenerational engagement. A thorough index is evidence of this deceptively simple book’s informational heft.
Inspiration for both keen-eyed nature lovers and gardening families. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9780823454983
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A gleeful game for budding naturalists.
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)Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781728271170
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks eXplore
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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