A cogent introduction to an important ecological concept.
Salutes to 11 creatures that work in sometimes surprising ways to help their wild communities.
Writing in rhyming lines with lucid explanatory glosses in prose, Duffield points out animals “throughout the nature-hoods, / in marshes, grasslands, water, woods” that help themselves and others survive and spread—often in subtle ways. Some, such as beavers and tunneling black-tailed prairie dogs, provide new homes for many species; others spread pollen or seeds. Grizzly bears eat only certain parts of migrating salmon, leaving the rest to feed carrion eaters and to fertilize riverbanks. In marine habitats, parrotfish keep coral healthy by scraping off algae and Pacific sea otters preserve kelp forests by chowing down on destructive sea urchins. The author closes with a short list of other keystone species to study and a nod to Robert Paine, the zoologist who coined that term. Salyer varies the tonal quality of her illustrations; some scenes look natural, while others seem viewed through color filters. Despite the artsy technique, the images of wildlife are rendered with careful attention to detail; misty glimpses fore and aft of a marveling, light-skinned young observer evoke a proper sense of wonder at the beginning and end.
A cogent introduction to an important ecological concept. (source and resource lists) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781665946896
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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