An excellent introduction to a lesser-known trailblazer.
Although readers young and old will likely recognize the name Jane Goodall from her work with chimps, giraffologist Anne Innis Dagg has been less well known—until now.
Born in 1933, Anne was introduced to giraffes on a trip to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Readers learn that the experience sparked a lifetime of love for the tallest herbivore and propelled Anne to seek out everything she could about giraffes when she was back home in Toronto. Sadly, the public library had no materials on giraffes, and the animals weren’t covered in her school lessons. That was just the beginning of many educational hurdles, as giraffes were not part of many college zoology areas of study, either. So in 1956, Anne traveled to South Africa to study giraffes at Fleur de Lys Ranch. Although her studies were fruitful, educational disappointments continued as universities at that time were reluctant to hire women professors. Undeterred, Anne forged her own path as an author of numerous books. The story is compelling, and detailed backmatter—including an interview with Dagg, a thorough bibliography, and an author’s note with information on apartheid that contextualizes the scientist’s time in South Africa—makes this book a strong choice for those doing reports or curious to learn more. Upbeat artwork rendered in colored pencil and Photoshop uses earth tones to depict the giraffes in their natural setting. Anne presents as White; background characters are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An excellent introduction to a lesser-known trailblazer. (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0495-8
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
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
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