An illuminating look at the dark’s wonders, both informative and atmospheric.
“When night falls, everything is dark. Or is it?”
In this Swedish import, Sjöberg suggests that viewers look again, and against pitch-black backdrops she casts sprays of stars and curtains of ionized northern (and southern) lights across night skies, glimmering fish and other marine creatures in shallow or deep-sea settings, lambent residents of otherwise lightless caves, fungi and even birds glowing eerily in ultraviolet light, and empty city streets faintly lit by windows and streetlights. Mainly she focuses on the natural world, presenting views of astronomical phenomena, ranks of fluorescent minerals, and dozens of biofluorescent or bioluminescent creatures. These include fire centipedes and certain shrimp that cast glowing nets of slime as a defense, the reflective eyes of cats and deer, puffins with UV–reactive beaks, luminous earthworms, toothy anglerfish, and, in the near future perhaps, glowing trees and textiles. Sjöberg occasionally plays fast and loose with facts—a star will last for a bit more than “thousands of years,” and there actually is a natural explanation for swamp lights. As well, the survey presents readers with a visual challenge by presenting much of the narrative in tiny, dim type. Still, while feeding scientific interest, the author effectively makes a comforting point that for all its feeling of scary mystery, the dark is rarely, if ever, absolute.
An illuminating look at the dark’s wonders, both informative and atmospheric. (afterword) (Informational picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-500-65219-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
Young environmentalists will appreciate seeing how facts can defy frenzy.
Through the investigations of young Cricket and her friends, readers learn how to distinguish evidence of a cougar from other animals—and are briefed on cougar conservation and monitoring.
When Cricket and her friend Shilo notice a foul smell coming from piled-up snow and branches under a bush, Cricket suspects that a cougar has hidden its dinner. Her father, Warden McKay, proves her right when he shows up at her school, giving an emergency presentation about cougars. A cougar has been seen in their village, which is located inside Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta. After Cricket’s dad informs kids about some cougar facts, Principal Singh gives students a rare week off from school. It’s odd, then, that the warden’s children proceed to wander the village. However, McDowell’s books about Cricket typically favor facts about wildlife above all else, and, also typically, this one does not disappoint. It even clarifies one statistic as specifically Canadian. Overall, the dialogue is more natural than in Salamander Rescue (2016), if equally packed with information. The nine chapters and epilogue are accessible, entertaining, and empowering for young naturalists. The compelling plot twist: Anxious villagers are accusing cougars of a series of large-mammal crimes. Cricket, knowing that cougar relocation can be fatal, wants to ensure continued, occasional village visits by a family of tracked cougars. She devises a scheme to trap the real culprit. Illustrations are pleasant enough, depicting a largely white cast, though at least three characters have Asian surnames.
Young environmentalists will appreciate seeing how facts can defy frenzy. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2064-7
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Transitioning independent readers looking for a funny, fast read need look no further.
Three animal friends help a bird find its missing mama.
With a long body and short legs, dachshund Hotdog awakes one morning to find he has a stuffy nose. Undaunted by his olfactory obstacle, he ventures out to meet friends Lizzie the lizard, who can “blend in with almost everything,” and Kevin, a corpulent cat whose owners like to dress him in costume (his disguise du jour is a cow). The trio happens upon an adorable baby bird fallen from its nest and decides to help it find its mother by crossing a river, visiting a farm, and flying a kite. Reading like an updated version of P.D. Eastman’s beloved Are You My Mother, the tale sets the animals to asking every bird they encounter (a duck, a rooster, and a penguin) if they are indeed the bird’s mother, eliciting giggles from readers who surely know they are not. Do’s short chapters and bouncy prose play with type size and color, easing recent graduates of the Eastman classic into independent reading, and McGuiness’ cheerfully silly caricatures feel comfortably familiar. The plot is familiar too—it falls to Hotdog to save the day, buoyed by cohorts who play into the comedy—giving transitioning readers a comfortable scaffold. This is the first in a proposed series; sequel Party Time! publishes simultaneously.
Transitioning independent readers looking for a funny, fast read need look no further. (Fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: May 5, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-58720-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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