Lively, visually inviting introduction to peculiar appellations assigned to animal groups.
In this companion to A Loveliness of Ladybugs (2020), Broderick expands her look at collective nouns to a new group of animals.
Beginning with a “wisdom of wombats” and closing with a “rumba of rattlesnakes,” each of the 16 collective animal nouns included receives double-page treatment with a definition, pronunciation, and visual illustration linking the animals to their group name. The presentation for a “bouquet of hummingbirds” reveals hummingbirds fluttering around a vase like “an arrangement of flowers,” reflecting the definition of bouquet as exactly that. Similarly, the wide-eyed raccoons used in a “gaze of raccoons” peer from behind tree trunks, perfect examples of gaze as “a long, fixed look.” Likewise, the raucous illustration of wildly honking geese for a “gaggle of geese” visually confirms gaggle as a “noisy group.” A “constellation of sea stars” fits the five-armed echinoderms scattered across the ocean floor in the shape of the Big Dipper, a “race of roadrunners” suits speeding roadrunners, and a “squadron of pelicans” works for aviating pelicans. Aided considerably by the fluid, brightly colored, clever illustrations, the rationale behind most of the collective nouns seems obvious; however, the connection between name and animal group in other examples—for instance, “journey of giraffes,” the titular “wisdom of wombats,” or “troop of kangaroos”—is less than apparent, and readers will wish there were background information explaining their originations.
Lively, visually inviting introduction to peculiar appellations assigned to animal groups. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5037-5708-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sunbird Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
A good choice for a late fall storytime.
Animal behaviors change as they prepare to face the winter.
Migrate, hibernate, or tolerate. With smooth rhymes and jaunty illustrations, Salas and Gévry introduce three strategies animals use for coping with winter cold. The author’s long experience in imparting information to young readers is evident in her selection of familiar animals and in her presentation. Spread by spread she introduces her examples, preparing in fall and surviving in winter. She describes two types of migration: Hummingbirds and monarchs fly, and blue whales travel to the warmth of the south; earthworms burrow deeper into the earth. Without using technical words, she introduces four forms of hibernation—chipmunks nap and snack; bears mainly sleep; Northern wood frogs become an “icy pop,” frozen until spring; and normally solitary garter snakes snuggle together in huge masses. Those who can tolerate the winter still change behavior. Mice store food and travel in tunnels under the snow; moose grow a warmer kind of fur; the red fox dives into the snow to catch small mammals (like those mice); and humans put on warm clothes and play. The animals in the soft pastel illustrations are recognizable, more cuddly than realistic, and quite appealing; their habitats are stylized. The humans represent varied ethnicities. Each page includes two levels of text, and there’s further information in the extensive backmatter. Pair with Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen’s Winter Bees (2014).
A good choice for a late fall storytime. (glossary) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-2900-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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