Overall, a fun read and a smart selection for any elementary nature shelf.
Young naturalists will love McCloskey’s look at snails.
In a manner most unsnaillike, McClokey zooms from fact to fact as he informs and entertains readers with information about these surprisingly interesting gastropods. The pacing never feels rushed, however, as the facts transition as smoothly as if on a “road of slimy mucus.” Readers will learn how slowly snails move as compared to other creatures, the advantages of moving slowly, and how they influence the journeys of other snails (spoiler alert: Mucus just may be involved). Fans of The Real Poop on Pigeons (2016) and We Dig Worms (2015) will get a kick out of this latest installment in the fact-based early graphic novel series. The information is paired with colorful cartoon illustrations that toe the line between caricature and surrealism. While the snails are the book’s stars, they are observed by a group of racially diverse children. Savvy educators will appreciate the book’s versatility: It would be the star of an intimate gross-book–themed storytime (due to its relatively small size) or may be used as the inspiration for a pre-K lesson plan on anything from wildlife and nature to gardening to body fluids.
Overall, a fun read and a smart selection for any elementary nature shelf. (Graphic informational early reader. 6-8)Pub Date: May 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-943145-27-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: TOON Books & Graphics
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2018
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
A good overview of this complex, essential organ, with an energetic seasoning of silliness.
An introduction to the lead guitar and vocalist for the Brainiacs—the human brain.
The brain (familiar to readers of Seluk’s “The Awkward Yeti” webcomic, which spun off the adult title Heart and Brain, 2015) looks like a dodgeball with arms and legs—pinkish, sturdy, and roundish, with a pair of square-framed spectacles bestowing an air of importance and hipness. Other organs of the body—tongue, lungs, stomach, muscle, and heart—are featured as members of the brain’s rock band (the verso of the dust jacket is a poster of the band). Seluk’s breezy, conversational prose and brightly colored, boldly outlined cartoon illustrations deliver basic information. The brain’s role in keeping the heart beating and other automatic functions, directing body movements, interpreting sights and sounds, remembering smells and tastes, and regulating sleep and hunger are all explained, prose augmented by dialogue balloons and information sidebars. Seluk points out, importantly, that feelings originate in the brain: “You can control how you react…but your feelings happen no matter what.” The parodied album covers on the front endpapers (including the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Run DMC, Queen, Nirvana) will amuse parents—or at least grandparents—and the rear endpapers serve up band members’ clever social media and texting screenshots. Backmatter includes a glossary and further brain trivia but no resources or bibliography.
A good overview of this complex, essential organ, with an energetic seasoning of silliness. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-16700-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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