by Laurence Pringle ; illustrated by Kate Garchinsky ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 20, 2021
Touching and informative: a beguiling invitation to share a branch with a pair of laid-back, uniquely adapted tree dwellers.
A slice of rainforest life.
In the same vein as their Secret Life of the Skunk (2019), Pringle pairs an intimate account of the life of a brown-throated three-fingered sloth to Garchinsky’s impressionistic crayon-and-pastel close-ups of their subjects. Both the protagonist sloth and, later, her offspring bear smiles that may seem at first glance to be anthropomorphic, but that is actually their natural expression. If naming the mother sloth Perezoso (Spanish for sloth, Pringle explains in his afterword) and later commenting that the two sloths sometimes go for a swim “just for fun” stretches reality a bit, in general the author sticks to plausible behavior and emotional responses in his evocatively slow, careful descriptions of the animal’s arboreal habits and physical features. Brushes with a harpy eagle and, following a once-a-week descent to ground level to poop, a jaguar provide dramatic moments, and the closing revelation that once young sloths have grown and learned enough to be independent, it’s the parent who leaves to find a new home range may surprise even well-read young naturalists. (They probably won’t be surprised by the final note about human threats to sloths and their habitats, though.)
Touching and informative: a beguiling invitation to share a branch with a pair of laid-back, uniquely adapted tree dwellers. (glossary, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9)Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63592-309-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: July 29, 2021
Share your opinion of this book
More by Laurence Pringle
BOOK REVIEW
by Laurence Pringle ; illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
BOOK REVIEW
by Laurence Pringle ; illustrated by Meryl Henderson
BOOK REVIEW
by Laurence Pringle ; illustrated by Kate Garchinsky
by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2024
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.
An introduction to gravity.
The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.
An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: April 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668936849
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: May 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2024
Share your opinion of this book
More by Bryan Thomas Schmidt
BOOK REVIEW
edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt & Henry Herz
BOOK REVIEW
edited by Jonathan Rosen & Henry Herz
BOOK REVIEW
by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López
by Kari Lavelle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 2023
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
Share your opinion of this book
More by Kari Lavelle
BOOK REVIEW
by Kari Lavelle ; illustrated by Nabi H. Ali
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.