Fanciful—but factual where it matters.
Photographs, accompanied by a rhyming text, document the first summer of a young loon the author calls Moon.
Salas imagines the story of a young chick from a series of photos of loon chicks and their parents taken by Dayton, an environmental lawyer–turned–nature photographer. Her text, conveyed in loose quatrains, follows Moon from hatchling to first migration. Much of loon development is instinctive, the writer explains: “Every secret Moon needs, / she carries inside.” In fact, in Salas’ text, her body parts have actual agency. Moon is prompted to dive by her “heavy bones” and to fly by her wing feathers, but readers also see her parents teaching her—to feed and defend herself and even that flying is a possibility. Fran Hodgkins’ Little Loon, illustrated by Karel Hayes (2015), tells a similar story; Susan Vande Griek’s free-verse Loon, illustrated by Karen Reczuch (2011), provides more information. What sets this book apart are the sharp, clear photographs of the loons and their chicks, set on a digitally collaged background. The range of images chosen also reveals the white pines surrounding the loons’ lake and, in one case, a pair of human paddlers watching from a canoe. Full-bleed double-page spreads illustrate the climax as Moon begins to fly. The backmatter reveals “More Loon Secrets” and suggests selected sources for further information.
Fanciful—but factual where it matters. (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68134-158-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Minnesota Historical Society Press
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf.
A classic Russian tale gets Brett’s signature artwork and a twist ending.
When Badger Girl finds a giant turnip in the vegetable patch, she immediately starts thinking of all the tasty things that could be made with a turnip that size. But she can’t pull it out, not even with the assistance of Badger Boy, Mother Badger, or Father Badger, each new character heralded in the recto vignette on the previous page. Passing friends—Hedgie, Mr. Ram, and Vanya, the horse—join in, one by one, as the snowflakes signaling winter’s arrival start to fall, but even all pulling together, they can’t manage it. A rooster who had a narrow escape from a cooking pot happens by. Meanwhile, a mother bear and two cubs, whom observant readers have been watching in the vignettes on the versos, climb into their winter den to hibernate only to find a giant turnip in their bed. Well, their pushing and Rooster’s pulling coincide to pop the turnip out, and it’s turnip pancakes for those aboveground, sleep for the bears, and an honorary home for Rooster. Brett brings the Russian countryside setting to life. Her anthropomorphized animals wear clothing in shades of blues, white, and reds, and the patterns are beautiful. The wooden fences and house are elaborately carved, and Brett’s borders are highly detailed, many times looking like carved wood.
Another Brett winner to add to the shelf. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-3991-7070-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful.
Life buzzes in a community garden.
Surrounded by apartment buildings, this city garden gets plenty of human attention, but the book’s stars are the plants and insects. The opening spread shows a black child in a striped shirt sitting in a top-story window; the nearby trees and garden below reveal the beginnings of greenery that signal springtime. From that high-up view, the garden looks quiet—but it’s not. “Sleepy slugs / and garden snails / leave behind their silver trails. / Frantic teams of busy ants / scramble up the stems of plants”; and “In the earth / a single seed / sits beside a millipede. / Worms and termites / dig and toil / moving through the garden soil.” Sicuro zooms in too, showing a robin taller than a half-page; later, close-ups foreground flowers, leaves, and bugs while people (children and adults, a multiracial group) are crucial but secondary, sometimes visible only as feet. Watercolor illustrations with ink and charcoal highlights create a soft, warm, horticulturally damp environment. Scale and perspective are more stylized than literal. McCanna’s superb scansion never misses, incorporating lists of insects and plants (“Lacewings, gnats, / mosquitos, spiders, / dragonflies, and water striders / live among the cattail reeds, / lily pads, and waterweeds”) with description (“Sunlight warms the morning air. / Dewdrops shimmer / here and there”). Readers see more than gardeners do, such as rabbits stealing carrots and lettuce from garden boxes.
Like its subject: full of bustling life yet peaceful. (author’s note) (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1797-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
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