A beautifully optimistic, lightly spiritual survey of nature’s creative gifts.
An exploration of the many ways life comes into the world.
Peelen begins her wide-ranging, serene text with a list of ways to arrive on Earth: “Some sprout…Some clone…Some float on spores.” Readers next encounter a page busy with young animals, among them a penguin, ladybugs, sea turtles, and other oviparous creatures. “Some hatch,” Peelen notes, but “some are born”: A baby elephant lies at its mother’s feet; a joey gazes out from a pouch. And then an utterly idyllic scene appears: five diverse, dozing human babies swaddled, a wildflower horizon behind them, and in the foreground, the earnest declaration, “The Great Mystery sparked you. You belong in this world.” The book then returns to active, detailed illustrations capturing the diversity of life on Earth—seahorses bursting from “papa’s pot-belly,” jellyfish cloning themselves, plant seeds blowing on the breeze. The sincere, gentle tone of both images and verse feels refreshingly plucked from a different era. Eschewing the familiar cynicism of a world where climate destruction seems insurmountable, Peelen instead allows every generation of reader, from toddler to grandparent, a moment to marvel at the multitudinous, well-worth-nurturing miracle of life. A single-page scientific explanation of the featured images follows the softly flowing, largely self-explanatory text.
Pub Date: March 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781568463810
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Dec. 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2026
Simple, encouraging text, charming photographs, straightforward, unpretentious diversity, and adorable animals—what’s not to...
This entry-level early reader/picture book pairs children with farm animals.
Using a simple, effective template—a full-page photograph on the recto page and a bordered spot photo above the text on the verso—Rotner delivers an amiable picture book that presents racially and ethnically diverse kids interacting (mostly in the cuddling department) with the adult and baby animals typically found on a farm. Chickens, chicks, cats, kittens, dogs, puppies, pigs, piglets, cows, and calves are all represented. While a couple of double-page spreads show the larger adult animals—pigs and cows—without a child, most of the rest portray a delighted child hugging a compliant critter. The text, simple and repetitive, changes only the name for the animal depicted in the photo on that spread: “I like the cat”; “I like the piglet.” In this way, reading comprehension for new readers is supported in an enjoyable, appealing way, since the photo of the animal reinforces the new word. It’s hard to go wrong combining cute kids with adorable animals, but special kudos must be given for the very natural way Rotner has included diversity—it’s especially gratifying to see diversity normalized and validated early, at the same time that reading comprehension is taught.
Simple, encouraging text, charming photographs, straightforward, unpretentious diversity, and adorable animals—what’s not to like? (Picture book/early reader. 2-6)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3833-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2017
There’s charm in this picture book, but it’s a bit of a wash.
A rhyming introduction to a variety of weather phenomena.
“So how about that weather?” A ubiquitous small-talk topic gets the board-book treatment in this cheerful informational text. Enthusiastic, colorful illustrations are a highlight, and beaming, anthropomorphic kawaii-style weather formations are eye-grabbers. Who doesn’t love a grinning rainbow? Children with various skin tones pictured throughout the book are equally pleasant and include a wheelchair user. If the book is agreeable to look at, it's less so to listen to. The oft-stilted rhymes aren't intuitive, and clunkers like “when a cloud gets dark and heavy with rain it's called a cumulonimbus which is such a funny name” take a few tries to get right when read aloud. Adding insult to injury, the line breaks are sometimes jarring, making the rhyme even more daunting. Most of the main sections contain appropriately digestible bits of introductory information conveyed in a bubbly, enthusiastic tone, with snow described vividly as “raindrops that freeze into crystals.” However, sometimes there is a mismatch between the text and its intended audience. Some topics—seasons, clouds, rain—with their easily visible and experiential elements, seem perfectly suited for toddlers; others, like humidity and hurricanes, are more of a stretch. A “Fun Fact” section discussing matters such as the Earth’s axis and climatology versus meteorology is more appropriate for early-elementary learners. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
There’s charm in this picture book, but it’s a bit of a wash. (Informational board book. 2-5)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-953344-47-2
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Genius Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2022
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