Trains a charming spotlight on the determined women who ushered in a brighter future.
Persistent Indian grandmothers become beacons of hope.
Villagers in Tilonia faced hot desert days, dark nights, and deepening drought. Sanjit “Bunker” Roy, a young engineer, visited the village to harvest rainwater. Perturbed by the lack of electricity and use of dangerous kerosene lamps, he taught the men to build solar panels to help light homes and improve daily life. When these men left the village for work, Roy recruited the village grandmothers to continue the project. Enthusiastic but unlettered, they struggled with technical complexities until Roy pivoted to using pictures and simple concepts. Eager for a brighter future, they built circuits, experimented with light and angles, and dreamed of change. Finally, ready to test their hard work, they installed rooftop panels, connected batteries and hung up LED lamps. As darkness descended, the grandmothers said a silent prayer before flipping a switch filling the village with light and hope. From then on, these Solar Mamas became role models for rural communities all over the world. Nookula’s well-crafted account of an uplifting true story is inspired by Roy, who in 1972 founded the community-based Barefoot College. Ali’s vibrant illustrations show both the beauty and harshness of rural Indian life; he offers a heartwarming vision of grandmothers coming together to master technical skills that challenge their traditional roles and improve the lives of others.
Trains a charming spotlight on the determined women who ushered in a brighter future. (information about Sanjit Roy, the Solar Mamas, and solar energy) (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9781643796482
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
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
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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