A lovely invitation to look up, slow down, and grow.
Mountains may seem still, but Kuo argues otherwise—and finds in that contradiction a surprisingly moving metaphor for growing up.
This second book in Kuo’s I Am Nature series, following 2022’s Luminous, operates on two tracks simultaneously. Lyrical, second-person text encourages young readers to imagine themselves as mountains—swaying, humming, growing inch by inch—while quieter expository text explains the science behind these actions (tectonic plates “shift and bump against each other” and over time “collide and push land upwards”). The balance between wonder and information is superb. Kuo’s digital illustrations deploy an energetic palette of oranges, purples, greens, and whites. The book, as well as its subject, has a timeless quality—at once geologically ancient and gently intimate. Spreads shift confidently in scale, from a child pressed against a train window gazing at Fuji-san to vast glacier fields and erupting volcanoes, yet the human figures (a brown-skinned adult and youngster, always warmly rendered) keep the emotional register close. The endpapers are themselves a quiet gift: wordless panoramic landscapes that ease readers into mountain terrain before the text begins and carry them gently out at the close. Backmatter includes a chart of 13 mountains from around the world—among them Kilimanjaro, Sagarmāthā/Qomolangma, and Lawetlat’la—with heights and a note acknowledging Indigenous and colonial naming histories and challenging readers to find all the mountains in the previous pages.
A lovely invitation to look up, slow down, and grow. (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Oct. 27, 2026
ISBN: 9781778401060
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again.
Cece loves asking “why” and “what if.”
Her parents encourage her, as does her science teacher, Ms. Curie (a wink to adult readers). When Cece and her best friend, Isaac, pair up for a science project, they choose zoology, brainstorming questions they might research. They decide to investigate whether dogs eat vegetables, using Cece’s schnauzer, Einstein, and the next day they head to Cece’s lab (inside her treehouse). Wearing white lab coats, the two observe their subject and then offer him different kinds of vegetables, alone and with toppings. Cece is discouraged when Einstein won’t eat them. She complains to her parents, “Maybe I’m not a real scientist after all….Our project was boring.” Just then, Einstein sniffs Cece’s dessert, leading her to try a new way to get Einstein to eat vegetables. Cece learns that “real scientists have fun finding answers too.” Harrison’s clean, bright illustrations add expression and personality to the story. Science report inserts are reminiscent of The Magic Schoolbus books, with less detail. Biracial Cece is a brown, freckled girl with curly hair; her father is white, and her mother has brown skin and long, black hair; Isaac and Ms. Curie both have pale skin and dark hair. While the book doesn’t pack a particularly strong emotional or educational punch, this endearing protagonist earns a place on the children’s STEM shelf.
A good introduction to observation, data, and trying again. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: June 19, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-06-249960-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
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
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