An eye-pleasing seek-and-find tale sure to entertain budding environmentalists.
A debut picture book focuses on science facts and ocean preservation.
Humans and sea creatures of all types fill these densely illustrated pages, introduced through Fulkerson’s rhythmic, rhyming text. The intent of this educational seek-and-find series opener is clear from the first two-page spread. When it comes to oceans, “there isn’t a way for us to measure their beauty and their worth.” The author makes use of ocean vocabulary (“krill,” “mollusks,” “grouper,” “anemones”) throughout, seeding the more difficult words within the context of familiar ones. The text and the activities at the end, including complex writing exercises and a bonus literary seek-and-find, seem geared toward independent readers, who may pick up some new non-ocean vocabulary words as well (“churn,” “unjust”). Debut illustrator Morais works many visual jokes into the playful images of sea creatures and diverse humans featured here. Some of the pictures tie in less closely to the text than others—rhymes on the types of animals found in the ocean are accompanied by a pirate shipwreck. But all are peppered with so many things to discover, children won’t mind. Hidden words on each page form an environmental message for readers to unscramble, and a helpful list of concealed creatures identifies many species depicted in the illustrations.
An eye-pleasing seek-and-find tale sure to entertain budding environmentalists. (quiz, facts, activities)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-947486-12-6
Page Count: 37
Publisher: Eaton Press
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Sure to have readers booking their own trips to catch the next brief but memorable solar eclipse.
A total solar eclipse brings a father and son closer together.
After learning in school about the eclipse’s impending arrival, a curious young boy excitedly figures out the best time and place to see it. His father agrees to transport him to the woods to view the eclipse, and the child describes everything that happens at various points—two months before the eclipse, then a month, a week, a day, an hour, a minute, and the exciting second before the sun slips behind the moon. Time seems to stand still, and the creatures in the woods are baffled by what appears to be an early nightfall. Then the countdown begins again, with the boy describing what happens after the eclipse—one second, one minute, one hour, one day, one year, and even longer. The moment has become a shared memory that enhances the bond between father and son and inspires future eclipse-chasing expeditions. Based on the author’s actual experience with his own son in 2017, this picture book features lively, child-friendly digital artwork filled with scenes of nature, matter-of-fact text that acknowledges the awesomeness of this rare phenomenon, and useful maps that chart the solar eclipse of 2017 and projected paths for future eclipses. Father and son are light-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Sure to have readers booking their own trips to catch the next brief but memorable solar eclipse. (more information on eclipses) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781338608823
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard.
Rotner follows Hello Spring (2017) with this salute to the fall season.
Name a change seen in northern climes in fall, and Rotner likely covers it here, from plants, trees, and animals to the food we harvest: seeds are spread, the days grow shorter and cooler, the leaves change and fall (and are raked up and jumped in), some animals migrate, and many families celebrate Halloween and Thanksgiving. As in the previous book, the photographs (presented in a variety of sizes and layouts, all clean) are the stars here, displaying both the myriad changes of the season and a multicultural array of children enjoying the outdoors in fall. These are set against white backgrounds that make the reddish-orange print pop. The text itself uses short sentences and some solid vocabulary (though “deep sleep” is used instead of “hibernate”) to teach readers the markers of autumn, though in the quest for simplicity, Rotner sacrifices some truth. In several cases, the addition of just a few words would have made the following oversimplified statements reflect reality: “Birds grow more feathers”; “Cranberries float and turn red.” Also, Rotner includes the statement “Bees store extra honey in their hives” on a page about animals going into deep sleep, implying that honeybees hibernate, which is false.
Bruce Goldstone’s Awesome Autumn (2012) is still the gold standard. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3869-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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