Cold comfort to know we are the not the only environmentally destructive hooligans in the universe.
On distant planet Gala, many Galinos have a bad case of wastefulness. Sound familiar?
Like any planet worth its salt, Gala has a nice variety of kids: some with one eye, or two, or three, or two heads, or a head like a hand. Amavisca has created an everyday gang of ragamuffins who like to eat candy bars, play with computers, and make a mess. One day they unearth—maybe that’s ungala—an oracular computer by the name of Galalpha 8 (computers are alive on Gala). Galalpha foretells of Gala’s environmental ruination: their galamobiles (cars) spew pollution, as do their galactories, killing the galatrees and drying up the galakes. Tierki and Kurti take Galalpha 8’s dire warning to heart, although their friends don’t give a hoot. “Several years went by, but all seven friends still looked the same. (The secret is that Galinos stop growing when they reach seven years old!!)” Villamuza’s artwork also has a childlike quality, about in the 7-year-old range. The Galinos lose any distinctive appeal—there is little—when they turn out to be little but earthling clones in Halloween gear. They even like toilet jokes: “Every time she went to the bathroom to poo, she would clean her gala-butt with tons and tons of toilet paper.” Tierki and Kurti decide on a plan: they’ll put all their filthmongering friends on a spaceship and send them to the only other self-destructive planet in the universe: Earth. How subtle.
Cold comfort to know we are the not the only environmentally destructive hooligans in the universe. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-84-942360-5-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: NubeOcho
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers.
Echoing the meter of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” Ward uses catchy original rhymes to describe the variety of nests birds create.
Each sweet stanza is complemented by a factual, engaging description of the nesting habits of each bird. Some of the notes are intriguing, such as the fact that the hummingbird uses flexible spider web to construct its cup-shaped nest so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow. An especially endearing nesting behavior is that of the emperor penguin, who, with unbelievable patience, incubates the egg between his tummy and his feet for up to 60 days. The author clearly feels a mission to impart her extensive knowledge of birds and bird behavior to the very young, and she’s found an appealing and attractive way to accomplish this. The simple rhymes on the left page of each spread, written from the young bird’s perspective, will appeal to younger children, and the notes on the right-hand page of each spread provide more complex factual information that will help parents answer further questions and satisfy the curiosity of older children. Jenkins’ accomplished collage illustrations of common bird species—woodpecker, hummingbird, cowbird, emperor penguin, eagle, owl, wren—as well as exotics, such as flamingoes and hornbills, are characteristically naturalistic and accurate in detail.
A good bet for the youngest bird-watchers. (author’s note, further resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-2116-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories.
What does Annie want to be?
As career day approaches, Annie wants to keep her job choice secret until her family sees her presentation at school. Readers will figure it out, however, through the title and clues Tadgell incorporates into the illustrations. Family members make guesses about her ambitions that are tied to their own passions, although her brother watches as she completes her costume in a bedroom with a Mae Jemison poster, starry décor, and a telescope. There’s a celebratory mood at the culminating presentation, where Annie says she wants to “soar high through the air” like her basketball-playing mother, “explore faraway places” like her hiker dad, and “be brave and bold” like her baker grandmother (this feels forced, but oven mitts are part of her astronaut costume) so “the whole world will hear my exciting stories” like her reporter grandfather. Annie jumps off a chair to “BLAST OFF” in a small illustration superimposed on a larger picture depicting her floating in space with a reddish ground below. It’s unclear if Annie imagines this scene or if it’s her future-self exploring Mars, but either scenario fits the aspirational story. Backmatter provides further reading suggestions and information about the moon and four women astronauts, one of whom is Jemison. Annie and her family are all black.
A solid, small step for diversifying STEM stories. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-88448-523-0
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Tilbury House
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2018
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