Do not hide this book!
Martin highlights the lives and disguises of one dozen animals hailing from habitats from every continent but Antarctica, with camouflaged-animal searches.
Captivating watercolor art immediately draws readers in. Before the title page, a blue-and-green map of Earth’s continents appears, superimposed with 12 circles; each circle contains a portrait of one of the upcoming subjects. Also preceding the title page, the author notes the importance of humans’ protecting habitat in order to save animals, “even when we can’t always see them!” Two double-page spreads are devoted to each animal, starting with chameleons. The first spread for each animal uses an ideal amount of negative space to set off short, titled paragraphs and art that perfectly complements the text. For example, “Sticky Situation” gives fascinating facts about a chameleon’s tongue as one whips across the top of the paragraph. The second double-page spread for each animal offers fun that will entice even 3-year-olds. A small amount of text lets readers know how many of the featured animal are hiding in each lushly painted environment—from eight mimic octopuses to 17 owl butterflies—as well as the names of other animals hidden there. The conversational text clearly defines words such as metamorphosis and opisthoglyphous (having fangs at the back of the upper jaw). Both art and text enhance scientific accuracy with beauty and playfulness—a rare feat. Sturdy pages, too.
Do not hide this book! (Informational picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1405-5
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Candlewick Studio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute.
Readers bid farewell to a beloved canine character.
Momo is—or was—an adorable and very photogenic border collie owned by author Knapp. The many readers who loved him in the previous half-dozen books are in for a shock with this one. “Momo had died” is the stark reality—and there are no photographs of him here. Instead, Momo has been replaced by a flat cartoonish pastiche with strange, staring round white eyes, inserted into some of Knapp’s photography (which remains appealing, insofar as it can be discerned under the mixed media). Previous books contained few or no words. Unfortunately, virtuosity behind a lens does not guarantee mastery of verse. The art here is accompanied by words that sometimes rhyme but never find a workable or predictable rhythm (“We’d fetch and we’d catch, / we’d run and we’d jump. Every day we found new / games to play”). It’s a pity, because the subject—a pet’s death—is an important one to address with children. Of course, Momo isn’t gone; he can still be found “everywhere” in memories. But alas, he can be found here only in the crude depictions of the darling dog so well known from the earlier books.
A well-meaning but lackluster tribute. (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693864
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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