Fans of the series that began with CeCe Loves Science (2018) will enjoy this beach-themed exploration.
Vivi, a girl with light-brown skin and big, curly, brown pigtails, loves to study nature, particularly the ocean. She’s especially excited when her science class takes a field trip to the beach. Her lab partner, Graeme, a Black-presenting boy, creates a wish list for them: finding seashells, hunting crabs, looking for eels, and seeing a dolphin. Their teacher, Ms. Cousteau, a brown-skinned woman with dark brown locs, leads off the adventure with a lesson on tide pools. The brightly colored images rival those of Dreamworks or Disney in cuteness and charm while also providing information. When Ms. Cousteau teaches the students about different kinds of sharks, the illustrations provide a visual contrasting the bigger and smaller species she describes. As Ms. Cousteau guides the students in creating aquascopes, her instructions are accompanied by an illustrated guide for young readers to create their own, complete with a list of materials and instructions. Equipped with a checklist, Vivi and Graeme enthusiastically explore, best practices for safe (for both humans and wildlife) beachcombing effortlessly folded into the narrative. Backmatter includes a glossary of science facts and instructions on how to create temporary tide pools. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A nifty way to help young learners see the beach through the lens of science. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 13, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-294606-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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Whimsy, intelligence, and a subtle narrative thread make this rise to the top of a growing list of self-love titles.
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Employing a cast of diverse children reminiscent of that depicted in Another (2019), Robinson shows that every living entity has value.
After opening endpapers that depict an aerial view of a busy playground, the perspective shifts to a black child, ponytails tied with beaded elastics, peering into a microscope. So begins an exercise in perspective. From those bits of green life under the lens readers move to “Those who swim with the tide / and those who don’t.” They observe a “pest”—a mosquito biting a dinosaur, a “really gassy” planet, and a dog whose walker—a child in a pink hijab—has lost hold of the leash. Periodically, the examples are validated with the titular refrain. Textured paint strokes and collage elements contrast with uncluttered backgrounds that move from white to black to white. The black pages in the middle portion foreground scenes in space, including a black astronaut viewing Earth; the astronaut is holding an image of another black youngster who appears on the next spread flying a toy rocket and looking lonely. There are many such visual connections, creating emotional interest and invitations for conversation. The story’s conclusion spins full circle, repeating opening sentences with new scenarios. From the microscopic to the cosmic, word and image illuminate the message without a whiff of didacticism.
Whimsy, intelligence, and a subtle narrative thread make this rise to the top of a growing list of self-love titles. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2169-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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A child who insists on having MORE of everything gets MORE than she can handle.
Demanding young Moxie Jo is delighted to discover that pushing the button on a stick she finds in the yard doubles anything she points to. Unfortunately, when she points to her puppy, Max, the button gets stuck—and in no time one dog has become two, then four, then eight, then….Readers familiar with the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” or Tomie dePaola’s Strega Nona will know how this is going to go, and Masse obliges by filling up succeeding scenes with burgeoning hordes of cute yellow puppies enthusiastically making a shambles of the house. McKellar puts an arithmetical spin on the crisis—“The number of pups exponentially grew: / They each multiplied times a factor of 2!” When clumsy little brother Clark inadvertently intervenes, Moxie Jo is left wiser about her real needs (mostly). An appended section uses lemons to show how exponential doubling quickly leads to really big numbers. Stuart J. Murphy’s Double the Ducks (illustrated by Valeria Petrone, 2002) in the MathStart series explores doubling from a broader perspective and includes more backmatter to encourage further study, but this outing adds some messaging: Moxie Jo’s change of perspective may give children with sharing issues food for thought. She and her family are White; her friends are racially diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Doubles down on a basic math concept with a bit of character development. (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-101-93386-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
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