A fun nonfiction picture book about animals and their unique features that can be enjoyed by all.
A nonfiction animal book all about iridescence.
Readers will learn how iridescent animals use their skin, feathers, and scales for a variety of purposes. From protecting themselves to attracting fellow critters to just relaxing, iridescent organisms use their flashy colors to survive and thrive. The book examines how these insects, amphibians, birds, and underwater creatures adapt to the world around them. The rhyming text will hook children and compel them to keep turning the pages. Every double-page spread contains a supplementary fact that gives the reader more insight into the featured animal. The digital illustrations employ bold shapes and brilliant colors that attract the eye. With its diverse set of creatures, short informational blurbs, and flamboyant color, this book is a good choice for a library’s featured nonfiction display. It could be used as a read-aloud at the beginning of a research unit to prepare and excite students and would also be great for partner reading involving more in-depth conversations about particular animals. Caregivers can utilize this book to engage young learners at home or to springboard nature activities. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A fun nonfiction picture book about animals and their unique features that can be enjoyed by all. (Nonfiction picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: May 3, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77306-462-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
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
Informative yet optimistic, this cri du coeur from Planet Awesome deserves wide attention.
The sixth in McAnulty’s Our Universe series focuses on Earth’s human-caused problems, offering some family-level activities for mitigation.
Vivaciously narrated by “Planet Awesome,” the text establishes facts about how Earth’s location with regard to the sun allows life to flourish, the roles of the ocean and atmosphere, and the distinctions between weather and climate. McAnulty clearly explains how people have accelerated climate change “because so many human things need energy.” Soft-pedaling, she avoids overt indictment of fossil fuels: “Sometimes energy leads to dirty water, dirty land, and dirty air.” Dire changes are afoot: “Some land is flooding. Other land is too dry—and hot. YIKES! Not good.” “And when I’m in trouble, Earthlings are in trouble, too.” Litchfield’s engaging art adds important visual information where the perky text falls short. On one spread, a factory complex spews greenhouse gases in three plumes, each identified by the chemical symbols for carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Throughout, planet Earth is appealingly represented with animated facial features and arms—one green, one blue. The palette brightens and darkens in sync with the text’s respective messages of hope and alarm. Final pages introduce alternative energy sources—wind, hydro, solar, and “human power—that’s from your own two feet.” Lastly, Earth provides excellent ideas for hyperlocal change, from buying less new stuff to planting trees. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Informative yet optimistic, this cri du coeur from Planet Awesome deserves wide attention. (author’s note, numerical facts, atmospheric facts, ideas for action, sources) (Informational picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-78249-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
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